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| Europe |
| Athens gives discreet backing to Turkey over NATO row |
| 2003-02-11 |
| Greece on Tuesday voiced support for its old foe and NATO ally Turkey in a row splitting the transatlantic alliance, but stopped short of blaming the three NATO members which sparked the crisis. France and Belgium, joined by Germany, vetoed a US request Monday to begin boosting Turkey's defenses ahead of a possible US-led strike on Iraq. This is Greece, backing Turkey. In other news, Garfield announced he and Lassie are engaged. "You understand perfectly well that, for reasons of one's own national interest, if a NATO member state invokes Article Four we cannot oppose it," government spokesman Christos Protopapas said. He was referring to Ankara's decison on Monday to activate an article in NATO's 1949 founding charter, which calls on the allies to consult whenever a member feels its territory is threatened. However the spokesman, asked several times about Greece's reaction to the triple veto that has now triggered emergency procedures for NATO's 19 members, declined to comment. Greece has "protested on numerous occasions when NATO procedures were not launched even though (Greece) felt it was at risk of an attack", from Turkey he said. Greece, therefore, cannot be "one of those who would block the procedure," Protopapas said. The country's respect for Turkey's use of Article Four has "nothing to do" with a looming war with Iraq, since Athens maintains its firm commitment to finding a peaceful, diplomatic resolution to the standoff with Baghdad, he said. But at least they are consistant |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #4 This sort of thing is nothing new to the Greeks: During some kind of aborted revolution (communist?), the Parthenon was taken and occupied by enemy forces. When they ran out of bullets, they began to topple the statuary over to get at the lead rods that held the columns together. In a panic, the Greek unit commander shipped crates of bullets to the enemy and begged them not to destroy the ancient ruins. These guys will do what it takes to preserve their heritage: no pissing on the monuments tolerated in Greece, unlike what's happening in Italy... |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-02-11 21:02:20 |
| #3 Actually,it makes perfect sense.For the first time,Turkey has a government that wants Cyprus reunified.That's because Turkey wants to be a member of EU,which won't do as long as Northern Cyprus is occupied.So if Turkey helps the Greeks get a unified Cyprus,Greece won't veto Turkey's membership bid.Which is why Turkey is currently being Greeced.(Ha,Ha,you can laugh now). |
| Posted by: El Id 2003-02-11 18:09:51 |
| #2 Makes the French, their Mini-Me Poodles - the Belgians, and the Germans look like even bigger a-holes, doesn't it? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-02-11 16:28:47 |
| #1 Let me get this straight, the greeks are backing the turks? two countries at war for the better part of 5,000 years and one says "dude, it looks like you could use a hand, sorry about the whole cyprus thing, heres a couple dozen patriots.". where id I put my stratego game, I need to go back to school on this one...... |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2003-02-11 15:46:54 |