She was referring to the Greek flag that had been posted on Kardak Rock and the Greek soldiers that had landed on it. The Anatolia news agency quoted officials in Ankara on Thursday as saying that no indication had yet been received as to how Richard Holbrooke intended to bring up the problems between Turkey and Greece relating to the Aegean when he visits the capitals of the two countries soon. Holbrooke has announced that he will be travelling to the region in the coming days to try and defuse the rising tension between the two countries. We want a settlement to all the problems between Turkey and Greece, including the disputes in the Aegean. As it is, all the problems in the Aegean are related to one another.
Turkey is ready to discuss all the issues, including the question of minorities.
Also reporting on the subject from Brussels on Thursday, Anatolia said Greece had failed to get the support it sought for its case from the European Parliament and the European Commission. It said that Greek Euro MPs had failed to get EP speaker Klaus Hansch to make a statement on the subject critical of Turkey, and also failed to have an urgent motion put on the Parliament's agenda for a resolution condemning Ankara. It also quoted European Commission President Jacques Santer as saying in response to Greek demands that this was not a subject for the Commission but for the EU Council to take up. Anatolia said that Greek deputies would be bringing the matter up again during the upcoming session of the EP starting on Feb.12. Drawing attention to the central role played by eight hours of negotiations launched by the U.S. administration, Holbrooke said Turkey and Greece preferred to deal with each other through Washington.