The southern flank of N.A.T.O.

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33779, 27 February 1975, Page 16

The southern flank of N.A.T.O.

Greece has withdrawn its forces from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, and Turkey, angered by the cutting off of military supplies by the United States Congress, is thinking of withdrawing. Because Turkey shares a border with the Soviet Union, and because it is militarily stronger than Greece, the loss of Turkey and the closing of American bases there would have the greater effect. The loss of the two members together would leave N.A.T.O. without firm allies in the eastern Mediterranean and the southern flank of N.A.T.O. would be weakened. This condition has been described as creating a “ soft underbelly

Although Cyprus is the immediate cause of enmity between Greece and Turkey, oil rights in the Aegean Sea are an even more potentially dangerous cause. The Aegean is dotted with islands belonging to Greece, which hopes to have seabed rights of 12 miles recognised, effectively making the Aegean a Greek lake and excluding Turkey from the rights to the oil under the waters. Turkey shows no sign of accepting Greece’s claims to the oil and is conducting its own surveys. The two countries have agreed to submit their claims to the International Court of Justice at The Hague, but are still disputing the scope of the hearing. Even if the Cyprus question was surprisingly solved, the two would still be at loggerheads, and their partnership in N.A.T.O. uneasy.

To some extent the withdrawal of Greece and the threatened withdrawal of Turkey have less significance than they once would have had. If the United States or other Western Powers once feared that a Turkey with friendly ties with the Soviet Union might permit Russian land or sea access to the Mediterranean during a clash, this fear has become dated by the presence of the large Soviet naval force in the Mediterranean; air passage to the Mediterranean might be shortened through Turkey, but the Soviet Union would doubtless have access through Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in any case. The loss of air and missile bases would weaken N.A.T.O. Turkish anger with the United States is, however, not really likely to turn Turkey towards Russia, to which its missiles have been facing for many years. The most likely change was described recently by a former Prime Minister of Turkey, Mr Bulent Ecevit, who said that a more independent foreign policy line could be expected. In a way, by telling its allies that they must depend on themselves more in the future, that is what the United States has been encouraging. If Turkey did withdraw it might mean only that part of a defence bloc which was no longer directly relevant had gone—a concept, and not a reality, had been changed.