Turkey 'deliberately jeopardising peace’

Press, 14 August 1976, Page 6

Turkey 'deliberately jeopardising peace’

NZPA-Reuter New York Greece and Turkey, allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, have accused each other in the United Nations Security Council of endangering peace in the eastern Mediterranean. The debate coincided with reports from Athens that Greece’s armed forces were on war alert because of the dispute between the two countries over rights to resources in the Aegean Sea. The Greek Foreign Minister (Mr Dimitri Bitsios) said in the council that Turkey had taken a cold-blooded decision to jeopardise peace' by sending an oil-prospect-ing survey ship, Sismik 1 into a disputed area of the Aegean. "A mere accident might suffice to lose control of the situation.” he added. The Turkish Ambassador (Mr liter Turkmen) in a brief reply, blamed Greece for anv threat to peace. He accused the Greeks of nurturing “the impossible dream” of turning the Aegean into an exclusively Greek lake. The council was to reconvene today (N.Z. time) when the Turkish Foreign Minister (Mr Ihsan Caglayangil) was expected to make a detailed reply to the Greek charges.

Greece wants the council to tell Turkey to stop its oil

exploration activities immediately. It was believed to be the first time that one N.A.T.O. member had complained to the United Nations about another N.A.T.O. member's actions. Mr Bitsios told a press conference that he trusted the security council would "do its duty” to prevent the situation becoming more and more dangerous. He also said that Greek

forces on the Aegean islands were there for purely defensive purposes. Military sources in Athens said troops along the Turkish border were on alert, almost the entire Air Force had been moved to advance bases, and the Navy was patrolling the eastern Aegean, where Sismik I continued to take seismic soundings despite the Greek protests.