May 24, 2006May 24, 2006
.1. The serious incident that occurred in the Aegean on 23 May 2006, with the clash of two F-16 planes, caused grave concern to the Greek people. We underline the fact that for 24 hours after the incident the Greek public opinion was not directly informed by a leading member of the Government. We share the grief and the agony for the officially missing Greek pilot, flying officer Kostas Iliakis, and express our solidarity to his family.
2. From the very first instance we spoke against any escalation. On the other hand, we wish to repeat that this incident was predictable given the almost daily interceptions of Greek and Turkish warplanes. The prevention of such extremely dangerous situations should be our main concern. It is necessary to be on the alert, especially that internal conflicts in Turkey might be exported through provocation and tensions.
3. The perpetuation of the “no-war” situation is no guarantee for peace. In essence it is a sort of “war simulation” with real, tragic consequences, as we recently saw. Human life cannot be replaced for the members of a family. The huge cost of an F-16 could have been used for the building of a hospital, a school or for benefits to pensioners. Human lives have already been lost, colossal amounts of money are wasted for expensive weapons, while social and economical problems are aggravated in both countries. Militarism is on the rise and there are grave risks for the international air transport. The only beneficiaries of these policies are the USA and NATO, the forces that favour the “divide and rule” strategy in international relations and are interested in selling their extremely costly weapons systems.
4. After the recent incident, it is more imperative to follow a path towards the effective and long-term solution of Greek - Turkish differences, through dialogue based on international law and by utilizing the UN International Court, without disputes of sovereign rights and “grey zones”. The immediate lifting of the “casus belli” from the Turkish side is imperative. We reiterate the SYNASPISMOS proposal for a mutual reduction of arms and military expenditure in the prospect of peaceful development in Greek-Turkish relations.
5. We reject vehemently the nationalist cries from both sides of the Aegean Sea as well as the concept that it is fatal and unavoidable for the two countries to be in constant conflict. Politicians who use populist crescendos aimed at acquiring electoral clientele, especially among the poorer people, need to tell the low-income citizens that they each pay, annually, over 400 USD for weapons, especially American ones, the largest amount in the whole of Europe and NATO countries.
6. We call on the Greek government to promote peace initiatives immediately. We reject the notion that Greek -Turkish problems are dealt with within the “Washington-Ankara-Athens” triangle, but we also disagree with the view that Turkey’s EU integration process will function as an “automatic pilot” for their solution. Much more so now that Turkey’s European orientation faces such strong opposition within the country itself, as well as from European conservative forces. What is needed from our side is a strategy with a clear time-table combining Turkey’s accession process with concrete steps for the solution of Greek-Turkish problems on the basis of international law.
7. “Citizens’diplomacy” has an important role to play for the normalisation and peaceful development of Greek - Turkish relations. A lot depends on internal developments in Turkey and for that reason we should strengthen our solidarity with the left, progressive and peace forces of the neighbouring country, the forces of the other Turkey. In this direction, SYNASPISMOS is planning common initiatives with the support of the European Left party.
Athens, 24 May 2006