GREECE is trying to get Cyprus out of a dangerous jam and find a face- saving way for it to avoid deploying Russian-made S-300 missiles and provoking a Turkish retaliation.
Greece has been considering a number of solutions, including a US proposal to place the missiles on the Greek island of Crete, diplomats and officials said ahead of a visit to Athens by President Glafcos Clerides starting last night.
But they said Athens wanted something in return in the form of a new international move to help guarantee Cyprus’s security, perhaps in the form of a no-fly zone over Cyprus.
They also said both Clerides and Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis were keen not to be seen as having backed down against Turkey.
“We must have some kind of initiative that addresses the issue of security as a whole for the island,” one official said.
Clerides was due in Athens late last night and is to meet Simitis tomorrow when the missile crisis is expected to be the main topic of discussion.
Cyprus has put off taking control of the anti-aircraft missiles a number of times but, according to some Cypriot sources, will soon face a storage bill of $1 million a month for any further delays.
Clerides ordered the missiles to protect Cypriot airspace from Turkey’s formidable air force.
The order was widely seen as a ploy by Clerides to force Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash to the negotiating table and galvanise international attention on Cyprus. But it has backfired spectacularly.
Turkey has vowed to stop the deployment, militarily if necessarily, and has shown no indication of compromising with Clerides.
“Clerides needs something to climb down and the Turks aren’t giving it to him,” said one European Union diplomat.
Turkey’s recent military threats against Syria when Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan was there were said to have focused Greece’s attention on the danger of the situation, prompting it to try to help Clerides.
“The Greeks have realised that the delivery of the S-300s would be destabilising and they are trying to get Clerides off the hook,” the EU diplomat said.
Another said Greece had also taken a recent warning by Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands about Cyprus’s EU membership prospects as a warning shot from the bloc’s leaders about installing the missiles in Cyprus.
The four countries signalled their concern about bringing Cyprus into the EU while it remained divided and at odds with the Turkish north.
“One way or another it could be the end of the EU process. The Greeks got the message but we are not sure Clerides did,” the source said. “(He) has lost the plot and he is very unpredictable right now.”
