[Via... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2001 5:15 PM Subject: Greece Boycotts NATO Meeting After Turkish Provocation [STOPNATO.ORG.UK] STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday May 9 6:38 AM ET Turkey Row Leads to Greek Boycott of NATO Ceremony By Karolos Grohmann ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's Navy chief is to boycott a NATO ceremony in Turkey after Ankara rejected his flight plan over the eastern Aegean, which it says should be kept free of the military. Greek Defense Ministry spokesman Andrea Sourbis confirmed on Wednesday that Navy chief Giorgos Theodoroulakis would not be present at Monday's NATO ceremony in Aksaz, saying it was a response to Turkish actions. The row is being seen in Greece as underlining the difference between Turkey's military and its government, which has been working to improve relations with traditional rival Greece. Theodoroulakis initially informed Ankara that he would attend the ceremony and that his military helicopter would refuel on the southeastern Greek island of Rhodes off Turkey's western coast. But Turkey refused to accept a military helicopter near its borders claiming the island is a demilitarized zone. Greece does not recognize Rhodes as being demilitarized. ``The Turkish military establishment does not understand the new circumstances in Greek-Turkish relations and some people are provoking such issues to undermine progress we made, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou was quoted by the Greek daily Kathimerini as saying from New York on Tuesday. Turkish officials were not immediately available for comment. The two NATO allies have long been at odds over territorial rights in the Aegean sea and the divided island of Cyprus. They came close to war in 1996 over a deserted Aegean islet. Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas rejected Turkey's decision to veto the flight plan. ``No one can impose such limitations within Greek territory, he said on Tuesday. While Greek-Turkish relations have improved significantly over the past three years, following destructive earthquakes which triggered a wave of sympathy from both sides, the two countries have not managed to iron out military differences. In a joint NATO exercise late last year, Turkey opposed the flight of Greek fighter jets over some eastern Greek islands, saying these were part of a demilitarized zone in the Aegean, aimed at controlling tensions between the two traditional foes. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
