VZCZCXYZ0004
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTH #0459/01 0611731
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 021731Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8309
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 000459 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/02/2017 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS NATO GR
SUBJECT: AEGEAN MIGRAINE: GREECE REACTS TO NATO EXERCISE 
CANCELLATION 
 
REF: HOTR 6 837 0051 07 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR CHARLES RIES.  REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The February 26 decision to withdraw NATO 
participation from the February 27 Noble Archer exercise over 
the Aegean island of Agios Efstratios has created an uproar 
in Greece.  The Greek press blasted NATO for being "duped by 
Turkey" into believing the island's status was under dispute. 
 The normally low-key Greek armed forces chief Admiral 
Chinofotis told Embassy DATT that he believed the NATO system 
had been "abused."  An attempt by the Greek government 
spokesman to provide NATO some breathing space by claiming 
the exercise had been postponed due to bad weather had little 
impact (beyond attracting ridicule); GOG officials reportedly 
plan to raise the issue in Brussels with the NATO SYG.  At 
the same time, the Embassy has only just learned that when 
the exercise profile was published, Greek civilian air 
authorities issued a NOTAM naming Agios Efstratios and the 
island of Limnos in the exercise -- a move which undoubtedly 
piqued the Turks.  The GoG, thus, may have been playing its 
own game with the issue.  For the NATO-wary Greek public, the 
incident has reinforced its belief that the Alliance tilts 
toward Turkey -- and is simply unwilling to do its homework 
on Aegean issues.  END SUMMARY. 
 
NATO CANCELS EXERCISE OVER AGIOS EFSTRATIOS . . . 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On February 27, Greek media reported that NATO had 
canceled a scheduled training exercise involving Greek 
warplanes and at least one NATO AWAC, which was to have taken 
place in the north-central Aegean over the Greek island of 
Agios Efstratios (Saint Eustratius), located near the larger 
Greek islands of Limnos and Lesvos.  Press reports 
(apparently accurately) noted the cancellation had occurred 
following a Turkish protest to NATO that the island was by 
treaty &demilitarized territory.8 
 
¶3. (C) Greek official and press sources sharply countered 
that Agios Efstratios was not mentioned in any of the 
international treaties addressing the armed status of the 
Aegean islands and rejected as absurd the idea that the 
island might be regarded as a disputed &grey zone8 whose 
status as Greek territory was ever under question.  NOTE: 
Turkey apparently did not object in the past when military 
exercises took place at Agios Efstratios, most notably during 
a joint, mid-sized, amphibious exercise, involving Greek and 
U.S. forces and code-named "Megas Alexandros", which took 
place in June 1998 and March 1999 in the sea region between 
Volos, Skyros and Agios Efstratios.  END NOTE. 
 
¶4. (C) The Embassy heard on March 2 that when the exercise 
profile was published, Greek civilian air authorities issued 
a NOTAM naming Agios Efstratios and the island of Limnos in 
the exercise plan.  Given the on-going Greek-Turkish dispute 
over the demilitarized status of Limnos, the Greek decision 
to include it in the NOTAM undoubtedly piqued Turkish ire. 
 
. . . CHOD PROTESTS TO DATT, GOG TO RAISE AT NATO 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶5.  (C)  On February 28, Greek armed forces chief Admiral 
Chinofotis called in Embassy DATT, providing details of the 
issue -- though without mentioning the question of Limnos in 
the NOTAM -- and suggesting that the NATO system had been 
"abused."  The CHOD categorically rejected any notion that 
Agios Efstratios is or ever had been demilitarized (and noted 
that the Defense Minister had visited a small Greek platoon 
stationed on the island in 2006).  Chinofotis told DATT 
frankly that, while he supported both the Alliance and the 
U.S., since the "inflammatory event" had already reached the 
press, there would be trouble. 
 
¶6. (U) On March 1, Chinofotis told the daily "Kathimerini" 
that the Greek response to these most recent Turkish claims 
would be "thorough and immediate ... addressing every NATO 
command level."  The admiral added, however, that NATO had no 
jurisdiction over international treaty interpretation.  As 
for Agios Efstratios specifically, Chinofotis said the 
island, as part of Greek sovereign territory, could not be 
subject to any discussions between him and any of his foreign 
opposites "inside or outside NATO." 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶7. (C) There are many hot-button issues in Greece, but 
perhaps none is hotter than Greek sovereignty over islands in 
the Aegean.  The nationalities of those involved, the short 
notice, and existing precedent for exercises in the area 
 
raised the temperature.  While the Greek and Turkish 
governments want to keep things cool, this is an election 
year in both countries.  Thus, it is important that we be 
sensitive to the impact that NATO exercises can have on 
Aegean dynamics. 
 
¶8. (C) We do not know whether the GoG was playing a game in 
including Limnos in issuing its NOTAM notice.  Nor do we know 
whether a long-standing Turkish concern about Limnos or the 
newly minted concern about Agios Efstratios was a more 
important factor in NATO's decision.  We are seeking to make 
clear to the GoG that we cannot help manage reaction to such 
issues if the GoG gives the entire story to the Greek press 
before raising it with us. 
 
¶9. (C) We are not questioning NATO's long-standing practice 
of staying out of Greek-Turkish gamesmanship in the Aegean, 
nor do we wish to insert ourselves in NATO decision-making 
about exercises.  The fall-out from this incident is minor 
for the Embassy, but potentially serious for NATO.  The 
reinforced Greek public perception that NATO is reflexively 
anti-Greek will not help NATO achieve its goals of increased 
Greek involvement in Afghanistan and elsewhere.  If Embassy 
Athens had been aware of the decision to cancel the exercise 
from a NATO or USG source rather than from the Greek CHOD and 
Greek press, we could have tried to manage the Greek response 
in such a way as to do less damage to NATO's image. 
RIES