Who's Afraid Of Dialogue?

MILLIYET- Columnist Sami Kohen comments on the Turkish-Greek dialogue. A summary of his column is as follows:
The dialogue on the Aegean finally went public a few days ago when Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem met with his Greek counterpart George Papandreou in New York. From now on, during meetings between Turkey and Greece, our disagreements on the Aegean will also be discussed. Cem and Papandreou will hold these meetings with the participation of the two foreign ministries' political directors, that is, deputy undersecretaries, and some experts. Of course meanwhile the two ministers will direct the negotiations and when they meet again at the joint European Union-Organization for the Islamic Conference meeting in Istanbul next week, they will discuss these issues. It is interesting that while announcing their dialogue in New York, Cem said that they were not trying to raise hopes and that they do not claim that great results will follow. According to him, both parties will discuss their views and concerns in joint talks to be held on the Aegean issue and try to discover their points of agreement rather of disagreement. We should not be surprised that Cem has a cautious manner just like Papandreou. First of all, expectations should not be exaggerated at the beginning of this decision. In addition, both countries are overly sensitive about the positions they have argued up to now. On such a stage, declarations and behavior that might cause misunderstandings should be avoided. The articles appearing in the Greek press last week showed that circles in Athens are viewing the dialogue through their own particular slant. For example, the Greek Elefterotipia daily said in an article entitled 'Who's Afraid of Dialogue?' that issues that considered off the table, such as the territorial waters and airspace, could not be discussed and that the discussions would only be about the continental shelf. But on the contrary, Cem's declaration gives the impression that issues besides the continental shelf will also be discussed as part of these 'study meetings.' For if Cem and Papandreou had not reached a consensus of principle on the issues to be discussed during their contacts, they would not have ordered officials at their ministries to start such negotiations. It is inevitable that during discussions on the continental shelf, the other disagreements on the Aegean issue in connection with this problem will also be discussed. There is a non-governmental group called the 'Turkish-Greek Forum,' which is made up of experienced Turkish and Greek ex-foreign ministers, diplomats, scholars and writers, who work for a rapprochement between Turkey and Greece and for a solution to the problems between the two countries. In July 2000, the forum presented a report to the ministries of the two countries about ways to discuss the Aegean problems. As I wrote then, this report drew a sort of road map for the Greek and Turkish ministries about their manner in these discussions. Now we hope that as indicated in the forum's report, the dialogue that covers the Aegean issues will from now on continue uninterrupted.

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