REDUCED AEGEAN AIR ACTIVITY: NEED WE JUMP IN?

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 002821 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR EUR/SE AND PM/RSAT SHAPE ALSO FOR MILAM E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/18/2029 TAGS: PREL MOPS GR TU SUBJECT: REDUCED AEGEAN AIR ACTIVITY: NEED WE JUMP IN? REF: A. ATHENS 1805 ¶B. ANKARA 2698 (U) Classified by DCM Robert S. Deutsch. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d). (C) We share Embassy Athens' desire that Turkey and Greece avoid activity in the Aegean that could provoke an incident during the NATO Summit in late June, the Olympics in August and the Paralympics in September (ref A). While we would like to see the two neighbors do more to that end, we worry that we might derail the unilateral steps the Turks have taken and the additional steps they are preparing to take (ref B) if we were to push them to do more. The Turkish General Staff indicated that Turkey was prepared to take unilateral measures to prevent mishaps during the Greek-hosted events. They would likely bristle over the perceived outside pressure, particularly when they believe that they are already acting responsibly to reduce tensions during sensitive periods. We would recommend against approaching the Turks on this issue. EDELMAN