PROPOSED U.S. STATEMENT ON GREEK ISLAND OF AGIOS

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