VZCZCXYZ0023
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTH #0550/01 0741459
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 151459Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8459
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 4652
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 000550 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2017 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS NATO GR
SUBJECT: PROPOSED U.S. STATEMENT ON GREEK ISLAND OF AGIOS 
EFSTRATIOS 
 
REF: ATHENS 459 
 
Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES THOMAS COUNTRYMAN. 
REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The recent dispute between Greece and Turkey 
over the status of the island of Agios Efstratios, which led 
to NATO's cancellation of its participation in a February 27 
exercise, has received major press and government attention 
here.  The GoG instructed its Pemrep to NATO Ambassador Sevas 
to raise it with NATO SYG de Hoop Scheffer, but the SYG 
reportedly declined to get involved.  As DAS Bryza promised 
during his visit to Athens March 13, the U.S. should make a 
statement in the lead-up to, or during, FM Bakoyannis' March 
22 visit to Washington affirming U.S. view that Agios 
Efstratios is not/not a de-militarized island under any 
treaty.  Furthermore, Embassy proposes demarches to Athens 
and Ankara explaining our position and stating firmly our 
wish not to be further involved in their squabbles over 
Aegean islands.  We believe this statement and demarches will 
help stop further deterioration of NATO's reputation in 
Greece and reduce U.S. future involvement in Aegean disputes. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
SQUABBLING IN THE AEGEAN 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (C) BACKGROUND (see also reftel): The long-standing 
dispute over the status of various islands in the Aegean 
hinges on different interpretations of several treaties that 
designated a dozen or so named Greek islands near Turkey as 
"de-militarized."  Beginning in the 1990s, GoT statements 
have argued that the other several thousand Greek islands not 
named specifically in the treaties may be considered "grey 
zones" of un-determined status.  The latest exchange in this 
debate centers on the de-militarized status of the Greek 
island of Agios Efstratios, which arose in connection with a 
planned NATO exercise on February 27.  The Turkish CAOC 6 
commander advised NATO that the island was "one of the 
demilitarized islands" under international treaties.  Greece 
further muddied the waters by issuing a NOTAM stating that 
Agios Efstratios and the island of Limnos (whose 
de-militarized status, while also debated, has de facto been 
acknowledged by both sides) would be part of the NATO 
exercise area.  NATO withdrew its participation from the 
exercise, citing its long-standing policy not to become 
involved in disagreements between member states. 
 
¶3. (C) The cancellation provoked considerable press and 
government consternation in Greece.  Always wary of NATO, 
both interpreted "neutrality" on NATO's part as lending 
support to Turkey's claim that Aegean islands constitute 
undetermined "grey zones."  Embassy has found no evidence or 
precedent to support claims that Agios Efstratios (which is 
not mentioned in any of the relevant treaties) is a 
de-militarized island.  Indeed, following a similar argument 
over the island of Gavdos in 1996, President Clinton stated 
that there was no question about Greek sovereignty. 
 
GREEK ASKS BRYZA TO STEP IN 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) On the margins of the March 13 Greece-U.S. ECC, Greek 
MFA spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos asked DAS Bryza to make a 
statement affirming the U.S. view that Agios Efstratios is 
not a de-militarized island.  Bryza declined to make an 
immediate statement but committed the U.S. to go on-record on 
the issue in the lead-up to, or during, Greek FM Bakoyannis, 
March 22-23 visit to Washington. 
 
WHY WE SHOULD DO IT 
------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) NATO's ability to conduct exercises near Agios 
Efstratios is not crucial to its operations in the Aegean or 
eastern Mediterranean.  But the wide-spread perception in 
Greece that Turkey can use NATO to score points in disputes 
over islands, and that NATO has no capacity to differentiate 
spurious claims from valid arguments, is extremely damaging 
to NATO's image amongst Greeks, many of whom are reflexively 
anti-American and, by association, critical of NATO.  The GoG 
has run political risks in making even its modest 
contributions to NATO's operations in Afghanistan.  NATO and 
the U.S. cannot expect the GoG to make an effort to 
contribute more to NATO if the Greek public believes that 
NATO is willing to allow itself to be used by Greece's chief 
regional rival. 
 
PROPOSED PLAN OF ACTION 
----------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) At the same time, we have no desire to allow the 
Greeks to use NATO or us in a similar way for their own ends. 
 Our goal, thus, is not to maintain a "balance" in relations 
between Greece and Turkey but to avoid being dragged deeper 
into the fray.  Given recent events, we propose the following 
steps to help repair the situation: 
 
-- During the week of March 19 in the lead-up to FM 
Bakoyannis' March 22-23 visit to Washington, an appropriate 
U.S. official (U/S Burns or DAS Bryza) should make the 
following on-record statement: "the U.S. does not consider 
Agios Efstratios to be de-militarized under any treaty." 
 
-- We should inform Turkey that this statement is not 
directed against it.  The statement simply expresses our view 
of the new Turkish argument on the status of Agios Efstratios 
and does not imply that we are in any way changing our 
even-handed position on the long-standing disagreement over 
islands like Limnos and Lesvos.  We should also inform Turkey 
that within NATO, we would not support the GoT position on 
Agios Efstratios. 
 
-- We should inform the Greeks that we intend to issue the 
statement.  If Greece intends to raise the issue further with 
the NATO SYG or in the NAC in order to re-schedule the 
exercise, Greece will have our support, but we will not do 
the heavy lifting for them. 
 
-- We should further inform Greece that our cooperation in 
NATO and as strategic partners depends on good communication. 
 We were disappointed that the GoG released full details to 
the press on the Agios Efstratios incident a full day before 
informing us of its concerns.  The GoG should view the U.S. 
-- and not the Greek press -- as its chief ally on NATO 
issues. 
 
-- We should also note to the Greeks that it was not helpful 
of them to release a NOTAM in advance of the February 27 
exercise mentioning both Agios Efstratios and Limnos. 
Mentioning the de facto de-militarized island of Limnos, for 
whatever motives, unnecessarily raised tensions and created a 
tit-for-tat atmosphere.  The U.S. is not interested in 
playing such games and does not appreciate either NATO or the 
U.S. being dragged into them. 
COUNTRYMAN