Athens’ Pressure On Ankara

BY FIKRET BILA (MILLIYET)
Columnist Fikret Bila comments on Athens’ policy of protesting flights by Turkish military jets. A summary of his column is as follows:
“How is Ankara dealing with the recently increased tensions raised by Greece under the pretext of protesting Turkish military flights in the Aegean? NATO, to which both Ankara and Athens belong, was both aware of the Turkish flights and permitted them. In addition, the results of an investigation by NATO Central Command’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) definitively disproved Athens’ claims. However, Athens is continuing its current policy, and meanwhile it’s targeting the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). For example, Greek Defense Minister Yannos Papantoniou yesterday criticized the TSK again. He claimed that ‘generals’ are governing Turkey. In addition, Greek Cypriot administration Foreign Minister George Yakovu charged that Turkey was keeping Cyprus’ future European Union lands ‘under military occupation’ and that this made it ineligible to join the EU.
Athens is now carrying its stance on Cyprus to the Aegean problem. It thinks that this policy, which it knows to have been influential in Cyprus, will work on the Aegean as well. It will continue to follow this path through next year. Ankara knows Athens’ intentions and aims and thinks them up to no good. For instance, Ankara thinks that Greece failed to return its own goodwill gesture of not putting pressure on Athens on the terrorist PKK issue.
Will Athens’ pressure policy affect Ankara’s stance on the Aegean issue and military flights? Civilian and military circles I spoke to yesterday both said no. They told me that Turkish jets were flying under a training program with NATO’s full awareness and permission and that therefore these flights could neither be halted nor changed due merely to Athens’ tactics. Athens also knows this, but is trying to wear the TSK down.
Military analysts’ take on the situation is this: Athens is trying to pressure Turkey from two sides. It wants Ankara to follow an appeasement policy because of its goal of EU membership. It’s trying to use the Iraq problem and the postwar conditions in the east, and to create pressure by pushing the Cyprus and Aegean issues to the west.
Turkey isn’t getting any return for the well-intentioned steps it recently took on the EU road. Ankara is expecting to get a response for the steps it’s taken to implement needed reforms.

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION