FM calls Turks over violations
Diplomats were yesterday assessing the state of Greek-Turkish relations after Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis telephoned her Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan on Thursday to complain about an increase in violations of Greek air space in the Aegean. After a sharp spike in transgressions by Turkish fighter jets, numbering 30 in the past three days alone, Bakoyannis decided to call Babacan and express Greek concerns directly. The move followed a complaint lodged in Ankara by the Greek Embassy. According to sources, Babacan told Bakoyannis that her complaints would be forwarded to Turkey’s military authorities, who would determine whether there is any problem to be addressed. Diplomats in Athens said the Greek move was a response to Ankara’s persistent hostile behavior in the Aegean. The same sources saw Ankara’s belligerence as a reaction to Greece signing a bilateral treaty with Albania for the delineation of the continental shelf in the Ionian Sea and Defense Minister Evangelos Meimarakis’s visit to the USA.
