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Greece asks NATO to cancel exercise |
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October 22, 2000
ATHENS (AP) - Greece's defense ministry on Saturday asked NATO to cancel a major exercise in the region, after saying its warplanes had been blocked by rival Turkey. The request to cut short the Turkish-based exercise, Destined Glory, comes after days escalating tension between the two neighbors which are at odds over military boundaries in the Aegean Sea. The ministry said two Greek A-7 Corsair jets had been harassed by Turkish warplanes Saturday while flying to and from Turkey to take part in the exercise. Defense Minister Akis Tsochadzopoulos, visiting Cyprus, said Greece would withdraw its planes from the two-week exercise, scheduled to end on Oct. 25, and requested that the maneuvers be stopped altogether. "Greece, in response to Turkey's behavior, has requested that NATO suspend the exercise immediately," Tsochadzopoulos said. "This behavior cannot be accepted." There was no immediate official response from NATO. "(NATO's) military commanders will try their best to settle this," said one alliance official in Brussels, who asked not to be named. "Every attempt is being made to settle this kind of issue through the military." Besides Greece and Turkey, troops from the United States, Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy are involved in Destined Glory. Meanwhile, Turkish and Greek planes Saturday engaged in intense mock dogfights over the divided island of Cyprus, where a separate exercise involving Greek and Greek-Cypriots forces is taking place. The tension could deal a serious blow to a year's worth of efforts to improve ties between Greece and Turkey. The traditional rivals have come close to war three times in the last 26 years over divided Cyprus and boundaries in the Aegean. But relations have thawed after the two countries last year agreed to focus on secondary issues to build friendship.
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