US ambassador in Athens concerned of ‘accident’ in Aegean with Turkey
US Ambassador to Athens Geoffrey Pyatt expresses his concern over the possibility of an “accident” happening between Greece and Turkey in the Aegean.
In an interview with Skai TV that will be broadcast at half past midnight, the American envoy refers to coast guard maneuvers in the eastern Aegean, where vessels from the two countries often come in very close proximity of each other.
His comments come just a couple of weeks after a Turkish coast guard boat skimmed past a Greek gunboat, touching it briefly, off the coast of the islets of Imia.
On Sunday, Turkish vessels also maintained an overt presence when Defense Minister Panos Kammenos threw a wreath into the water to commemorate the death of thee servicemen in the 1996 Imia crisis.
On the subject of ongoing name talks between Athens and Skopje, Pyatt says the US supports the effort of the United Nations’ special mediator on the issue, Matthew Nimetz, and is optimistic of a solution.
