Greece: Former Turkish PM's arson admission fuels anger
Sunday, 1 January 2012
(ANSAmed) - ATHENS, DECEMBER 27 - Greek politicians reacted angrily on Monday following the admission by former Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz that Turkish secret agents intentionally started forest fires in Greece in the 1990s as part of state-sponsored sabotage. The claims - as daily Kathimerini reports - are not new and were common knowledge on the islands of the eastern Aegean which were particularly hard hit by wildfires in the 1990s. But Yilmaz's comments -- part of an interview published in the Turkish daily newspaper Birgun over the weekend -- are the first admission by an official source that Ankara was funding subversive activities in Greece. According to Yilmaz, who served as premier three times in the 1990s, agents of the Turkish secret service set fire to Greek forests during the leadership of his archrival Tansu Ciller, from 1995 to 1998. During that period major forest fires caused huge damage on the islands of the eastern Aegean and in Macedonia. The news sparked political outrage Greece on Monday.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras said the claims were "serious and must be investigated," adding that Athens was awaiting a briefing from Ankara.
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