Stoltenberg travels to Greece and Turkey to defuse tension in eastern Mediterranean

What happens when two countries belonging to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) confront each other directly? Tensions in the eastern Mediterranean since Turkey has put its oil exploration vessels to sea in the exclusive economic zones of Greece and Cyprus have brought this question back to the table.

Both Turkey and Greece agreed last week to establish a permanent telephone line to prevent possible incidents in the eastern Mediterranean. To underpin this agreement, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has decided to visit both countries to calm the atmosphere.  Both Ankara and Athens joined NATO in the same year (1952) and have since had several unpleasant encounters.

On Monday, Stoltenberg was in Turkey meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu. He also took the opportunity to meet with the Defence Minister Hulusi Akar and other government officials. Just on the same day of the meetings, the Turkish prospecting ship Yavuz was leaving the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Cyprus.

Cyprus is not a member of NATO, but it is as much involved in the maritime conflict as Greece, because its maritime areas of economic exclusivity were threatened this summer by the activities of Turkey and its ships on the established borders. After yesterday's visit, Stoltenberg stressed that "only dialogue is valid to solve this conflict", making it clear that NATO will not allow any further escalation of tension within the Alliance.

In this respect, Stoltenberg stressed his recognition of both Alliance members (Turkey and Greece) for committing themselves to this mechanism that marks the beginning of a solution and which, according to the Norwegian politician, will be able to generate more space for the diplomatic efforts the European Union is maintaining with Erdogan's Turkish executive.

This Tuesday, Stoltenberg also met with the President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias, and the National Defence Minister, Nikos Panagiotopoulos. The aim is to leave no stone unturned to ensure that this tension is resolved as soon as possible, particularly after France's intervention in the Mediterranean by attempting to support Greece with its military presence by putting pressure on Erdogan.

Following the meeting with Mitsotakis, the Alliance's secretary general welcomed the fact that both countries' military cadres have taken the step of establishing a permanent telephone line. "We are now ready to develop this mechanism," said Stoltenberg, whose initiative this instrument is based on.

The details of how this mechanism would work were originally scheduled to be defined at a meeting at NATO headquarters on Monday, but the meeting of the military delegations was postponed, without the reasons being made clear.

Mitsotakis stressed at a press conference this morning that while this initiative is important and should be welcomed, it is only a "technical" matter and that what is important is political dialogue and that both countries define their maritime areas by common agreement.

The Greek Prime Minister welcomed the first de-escalation steps taken by Turkey, such as the withdrawal of drilling vessels from the waters of the exclusive economic zones of Cyprus and Greece, but stressed that what was important was that these steps should be "consistent".

"We expect consistency and persistence from our neighbours. We look forward to an immediate date for resuming the exploratory dialogue on the demarcation of maritime areas in the Eastern Mediterranean", the Prime Minister said.

For Greece, the crisis in the Mediterranean cannot be seen as a bilateral conflict between neighbours, but as a crisis affecting the entire military organisation. "If the rights and sovereignty of one ally are questioned this leads to the rights of another ally being questioned. This is why it is not a bilateral issue, but a concern for NATO as a whole," Mitsotakis said.

During yesterday's meeting, NATO also raised its concern about the consequences of Turkey's acquisition of the Russian-made S-400 anti-missile system.

This Russian defence system equipment could pose a risk to an Alliance plane and could trigger a US reaction in the form of sanctions, the NATO chief recalled.

"It is a national decision for Turkey but the S-400 system cannot be integrated into NATO's missile defence system. I urge Turkey to work with the allies to find an alternative solution", Stoltenberg said in the presence of the Turkish minister.

The NATO Secretary General thus concludes his tour of Turkey and Greece, pending the definition of the technical lines of the talks to open this hotline between the two Atlantic Alliance countries.