Turkish coastguard harrasses Greek fishermen whenever they want.

[Nikephoros]

First off, of course this is happening. This is nothing new. The Greek state allows Turkey to do this all the time without having any consquences except releasing lame demarches and press statements from the Greek foreign ministry. Maybe we can also threaten their EU prospects this will really show them. Press demarches of course acheive nothing. The Turkish diplomats are experts at lying and duplicity.

If it were up to me, the Greek state should create a rival to MEMRI Turkish blog, which translates articles from the Turkish media. When a fanatic Turk kills another priest then
The Greek Foreign Ministry should target a Western country or Russia where Turkey gets a lot of tourist arrivals from. Greece spend sa few million Euros to destroy the image of Turkey in that country by hiring a Public Relations firm to expose what the fanatic and racist Turkish press is saying on a daily basis against foreigners and Christians, in the local press of whatever Christian or post-Christian country we target. This is an example of how we can escalate and confront Turkey without causing a full out war. We can retaliate assymetrically by exposing their fanatic state and nation to the world stage and defend the defenceless Christians in Turkey while doing it.

The Turkish state hires Public Relations firms all the time, it pays cash to create historical Departments at foreign universities, the Turkish state infiltrates American think-tanks, etc. The Greek state just watches all this and never creates real consquences to make the fanatic Turkish state think who they are dealing with. But nothing will change, nothing ever has in the past either which is why this is happening and will continue to happen. Disgusting. The Turkish state almost puts more effort into claiming and maintaining its claims then the Greek state does in defending.


http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nath...=01&m=A10&aa=1
Imia loom over PM's Ankara trip

Turkish coastguard ships impede Greek fishermen during peak season in whatmany view as a challenge to Greek sovereignty

GEORGE GILSON



The Imia islets in the Aegean Sea


JUST weeks before Costas Karamanlis' planned historic visit to Ankara - the first by a Greek prime minister in a half century - a dangerous game of cat and mouse is being played out around the eastern Aegean islands of Imia.

Turkish coastguard ships have for over a month been impeding Greek fishermen who are fishing for bream in the area. The charges of the fishermen, made publicly on several Greek television channels, come exactly 12 years after Greece and Turkey nearly went to war over the uninhabited rock islets. Greek diplomatic sources confirmed the veracity of the complaint, noting that the period from mid-November through to mid-January is peak bream fishing season.

The fishermen say that Turkish coastguard vessel 302, named Sahil Guvenlik, has evicted them on an almost daily basis, cutting their nets and their buoys. Then Greek coastguard vessels are called to the area, helping the fishermen to retrieve their nets and catch. The Turkish coastguard is a branch of the military.

The incidents have resulted in an exchange of demarches between Ankara and Athens. Newly appointed Greek ambassador to Ankara, Fotis Xydas, was called in to the Turkish foreign ministry to receive a demarche over the presence of Greek fishermen and coastguard boats near Imia.

At the same time, the Turkish General Staff website has stated on several occasions that a Turkish coastguard vessel intercepted a Greek coastguard ship near Imia and escorted it outside "Turkish territorial waters".

[/b]Xydas replied with a strong demarche from Athens, which rejected the Turkish press reports and Turkish military charges[/b] of Greek fishermen entering Turkish waters. Greece cites the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty, by which the Dodecanese and adjacent islands were transferred from Italy to Greece, establishing Greek sovereignty over the Imia islets and surrounding waters.

The situation was complicated by reports in the Turkish press: on December 30, CNN Turk and the daily Hurriyet published photos showing an inflatable Greek coastguard boat which, they claimed, was manned with armed submarine-disaster commandos. A Greek foreign ministry source told the Athens News that the boat in fact belonged to the Greek coastguard and was dispatched to help the fishermen collect their nets and equipment.

A January 1 report in the mass-circulation Turkish daily Radikal cited high-level Turkish general staff and coastguard sources as declaring that Imia (called Kardak in Turkey) is Turkish territory and that Greek coastguard vessels had entered Turkish waters 34 times since mid-October.

The role of the media is a disconcertingly familiar touch in this latest spat.

The media had played a central role in fuelling the 1996 crisis. Then, journalists from the Turkish daily Hurriyet removed the Greek flag from Imia and hoisted the Turkish one, obtaining exclusive images and establishing a patriotic image at home.

Greek foreign ministry spokesman George Koumoutsakos issued two statements in response to the Turkish press reports. On December 28, he said the Turkish press "is attempting to create skewed impressions based on totally groundless claims".

"Such actions, as well as any efforts to create false impressions, cannot alter the inalienable sovereign rights of our country, which are based on international treaties and international law, " the statement said.

Another statement three days later dismissed Turkish press reports as "unsubstantiated".

A meeting was held at the Greek foreign ministry on December 31 to evaluate the situation, which has led some to suggest that it may be wise for Karamanlis to reconsider his planned trip to Ankara.

Diplomatic observers suggest that the increased Turkish aggressiveness around Imia may be a prelude for Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan to place Turkish territorial claims in the Aegean on the agenda during Karamanlis' visit.

On January 3, Karamanlis discussed the trip - expected in late January - with Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, who said the dates of the visit will be announced in both capitals simul-taneously. Former foreign minister Petros Molyviatis, who is reported to have reservations about the trip, told NET TV the same day that it is very difficult to cancel a planned trip, as the side which does so shoulders the diplomatic repercussions.

Turkey has for over a decade expounded the theory of Aegean "grey zones" of sovereignty, claiming that over 100 islets fall under Turkish sovereignty. Whether or not Erdogan raises such claims, both sides agree that they must still delimit the Aegean continental shelf.

Another sovereignty issue, which Karamanlis may wish to raise, is that of a standing threat of war by the Turkish parliament should Greece ever exercise its right under the Law of the Sea Treaty to extend its Aegean territorial waters to 12 nautical miles. Greek territorial waters in the Aegean are now at six nautical miles.

For its part, the Turkish side is likely to raise the incongruity between the six-mile territorial water limit and Greece's claim to 10 miles of airspace on the grounds that international law provides that the two must coincide.

ATHENS NEWS , 04/01/2008, page: A10
Article code: C13268A101

[pankration]

This animosity has existed for thousands of years. It will never cease although good politicians may mitigate it somewhat.

[Nikephoros]

Sounds like a bunch of rubbish to say without examining anything.

I gave a concrete example of how to create real consquences for Turkey, without going to war. Translate from the racist and fanatic Turkish press, use the killings, stabbings of priests to create a bad image for Turkey, hire PR firms to destroy the image of Turkey abroad and make it well known in the press of a select target country that Turkey is not to visit for a tourist. It is very simple to understand.

The Greek politicans and diplomatic establishment is doing nothing to create any real consquences for Turkey, so Turkey has no reason to change. Infact they should keep claiming Greek land, because eventually they will succeed on a long enough timeline.