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ANKARA: Friendship Is Ok, But...

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  • ANKARA: Friendship Is Ok, But...

    Turkish Press
    April 14 2005

    Friendship Is Ok, But...

    BY OKTAY EKSI

    HURRIYET- The fact that Turkish and Greek boats have been uttering
    threats and challenging each other even while Greek Foreign Minister
    Petros Molivyatis is in Ankara to discuss how the two nations can
    obtain lasting peace and friendship confuses us. Maybe you've been
    able to make some sense of it. We haven't...

    Our Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and his Greek counterpart Petros
    Molivyatis signed an agreement to end dogfights over the Aegean.
    Meanwhile, the Athens News Agency reported that 34 Turkish airplanes
    had recently violated international air traffic laws by violating
    Greece's national airspace.

    Gul had previously announced that he was against lifting the casus
    belli decision, but somehow he changed his mind overnight and
    expressed that he had no objection to removing it. I'd say, `If no
    one has any objections, then just announce that the casus belli has
    been lifted and be done with it.' But it's not that simple.

    Let's say the Kardak issue is just a minor, unfortunate disagreement.
    What about Turkish airplanes violating Greece's national airspace? If
    the reports are true, doesn't this mean that our Foreign Ministry and
    General Staff have communications problems?

    Let's make it clear, we do want to be friends with the Greeks, but we
    believe that friendship is only possible if both sides adopt a
    serious and sincere approach towards each other.

    But if you say, `Let Turkey lift the casus belli and give up on
    Kardak, but let Greece continue to teach its children in primary
    school that Turks are savages and barbarians. Let Greece ignore the
    European Union criteria for minorities when it comes to Turks living
    in western Thrace. And let Greece still recognize the Armenian
    `genocide' and other fake claims.' If you say this, then I say, no
    way.
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