Turkey and Greece open first talks for a decade

IT MAY not have looked like much, but it was a crack in the wall of ice. For the first time in nearly a decade, Turkey and Greece opened bilateral talks in Ankara yesterday.

But relations between the two Nato allies are so fraught that the real issues are off the agenda. Three times in the past 25 years, Athens and Ankara have risked war in a dangerous game of brinkmanship, and in Cyprus, Turkey backed its words with bullets, invading and partitioning the island.

There will be no mention of Cyprus at the negotiating table, nor of territorial disputes in the Aegean. Instead talks, between low-level officials, are focussing on the uncontentious: tourism, the environment and trade.

Nevertheless, it represents a major thaw. Only a week ago, Greece was accusing Turkish fighters of buzzing a plane flying the Greek Transport Minister back from Cyprus.

Ismail Cem and George Papandreou, Turkey and Greece's respective foreign ministers, reportedly agreed a ceasefire in the war of words to give the talks a chance. In truth, Athens and Ankara have kept communications open behind the scenes.

Both insist the talks are a bilateral initiative, but it seems likely that Washington may have exerted pressure. The feuding Aegean rivals are Nato's weak link, and the danger that they could be sucked into the Kosovo conflict on opposite sides was all too apparent.

But controversy is looming. The final discussion, later this week in Athens, is on co-operation on terrorism. But Ankara accuses Greece of backing Kurdish rebels responsible for attacks in Turkey, and earlier this year it wanted Greece added to the list of countries sponsoring terrorism. It will be interesting to see what they can agree.