Greek and Turk ships avoid standoff

From DefenseNews

Greek, Turk Ships Avoid Row over Territorial Waters

By KAROLOS GROHMANN, REUTERS, ATHENS

Greece and Turkey avoided on May 30 a repeat of a 1996 standoff that led them to the brink of war, when a Turkish navy ship left a disputed area in the Aegean sea following the arrival of the Greek coastguard.

The Greek vessel had rushed to help a Greek fishing boat that had been ordered by the Turkish ship to leave the area near an uninhabited island in the eastern Aegean.

It was over that same island, known as Imia in Greece and Kardak in Turkey, that the two NATO allies almost clashed 10 years ago. War was averted after U.S. intervention.

"The Turkish ship has now left the area after the Greek coast guard was called in to assist the fisherman," a Defence Ministry official told Reuters. "The fisherman was within Greek territorial waters."

The incident off the small, rocky island near the Greek island of Kalymnos comes days after fighter jets from the two nations collided over the Aegean sea.

"This is not an unusual event but given that it only comes days after the planes’ crash, it is at least suspect," the official said.

Greek government spokesman Theodore Roussopoulos refused to answer any questions regarding the incident saying it was a matter for the coast guard.

NATO members Greece and Turkey regularly squabble over territorial waters in the Aegean and fishermen often end up in the middle of the rows.

The two neighbors have still to resolve several territorial disputes in the Aegean and the divided island of Cyprus, despite a thawing of relations in the past six years.

Athens accused Ankara last week of violating its flight information region without submitting flight plans and causing the collision that killed the Greek pilot. It said it had scrambled its fighter jets to identify the Turkish planes.

Ankara said it was not obliged to inform Athens of its flights in the Aegean, saying it was international airspace and not Greek-controlled. It blamed Greece for the crash.

EU-member Greece has backed Turkey’s EU aspirations but warned that they could be dashed if Ankara does not behave like a good neighbor.