Friction with Ankara, Skopje
Athens yesterday complained to Ankara over statements posted on Turkey’s Foreign Ministry website which raise issues of sovereignty in the Aegean and a so-called «Turkish minority» in Thrace. Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis condemned the «unfounded allegations,» saying, «We expect a correction.» She has asked Turkey’s ambassador in Athens to provide a clarification. The new material on the site deals in some detail with the thorny issues of territorial rights and minority groups that Athens and Ankara have sought to play down over the past few years. Meanwhile, Athens was on the receiving end of a complaint from another neighbor. The Foreign Ministry of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) summoned Greece’s ambassador in Skopje for an explanation following reports that FYROM citizens trying to enter Greece are being harassed and that three Skopje nationals had been attacked in separate incidents in Greece over the weekend.
