Home / Daily news channel / News | Monday 06 February 2012 |
Turkey interfering with EU immigration patrols |
Greece says Turkey is refusing to honour a migrant readmittance protocol signed a decade ago and lately began accusing Ankara of harassing aircraft belonging to EU border agency Frontex.
Earlier this month, Athens said a Swedish aircraft flying over two Greek islands was repeatedly warned by Turkish radar to leave the area because of an alleged violation of Turkish airspace.
Athens and Ankara normalised their relations in 1999 but continue to disagree on sovereignty in some areas of the Aegean.
Papandreou, a former foreign minister and one of the architects of that bilateral agreement 10 years ago has said he would like to revive the reconciliation process between the two countries.
"We understand (immigration) is also an important problem for Turkey," he said on Friday.
"The EU must help Turkey deal with the problem...we have ways of helping, but a desire for cooperation from Turkey is needed for this to occur."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens has lodged a complaint with Ankara after Turkey’s latest attempt to oust an EU Frontex helicopter operating over the Greek isle of Farmakonisi in the Aegean.
On September 8, the Latvian pilots on board a Frontex helicopter - an EU agency coordinating boarder controls in the EU- were asked by Turkish authorities, via radio, to submit a flight plan. The pilots continued their operation without responding to the call and reported the incident to the Greek authorities, who issued a démarche with Turkey.
This incident constitutes Turkey’s sixth attempt to obstruct EU agencies’operations in the area in 2009.
