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Turkey warns Greece of consequences over PKK support

   ANKARA, March 3 (AFP) - Turkey has warned neighbouring Greece of 
a further worsening of ties if Athens continues to support the rebel
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighting the Ankara government, the
liberal daily Milliyet reported Wednesday.
   "We have to see that Greece cuts off its ties with the PKK," 
Turkish Foreign Ministry under-secretary Korkmaz Haktanir told the
daily. "Otherwise, worse things will happen between the two
countries."
   Turkey's already sour ties with Greece took a new downwards turn 
when Athens admitted that it had sheltered PKK leader Abdullah
Ocalan in its ambassador's residence in Kenya for 12 days before the
rebel leader was snatched and hauled back to Turkey last month.
   "Greece follows a hostile policy towards Turkey. If it does not 
change its attitude, worse developments will take place in eastern
Mediterranean. We are coming to the end of our patience," Haktanir
said.
   In Athens, Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas accused 
Turkish officials of stirring up trouble between the two countries
through their "aggressive and provocative" remarks.
   He urged Turkey to "drop its anti-Greek attitude and look at 
issues more calmly."
   Turkey and Greece remain at odds over a series of problems in 
the Aegean as well as over the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, which
remains divided between the two.
   Last week, the Turkish foreign ministry announced that the Greek 
and Cypriot attitude in the (Ocalan) case would not facilitate a
settlement in Cyprus.
   US envoy Thomas Miller is scheduled to travel shortly to Cyprus, 
Turkey and Greece to try to ease tensions, a US source in Ankara
said.
   "We have a communications problem with Greece. Our dialogue 
channels are more open even with Syria. We have not had dialogue
with Greece for 20 years," Haktanir told Milliyet.
   In October last year, Syria pledged to close down all PKK camps 
on its soil and turn out Ocalan from his long-term base in the
country after Turkey threatened military action against its southern
neighbour.
   "How can a NATO-member country work against another NATO-member 
country? Greece has violated all rules of law," Haktanir added.
   A week ago, Turkish President Suleyman Demirel charged that 
Athens was an "accomplice" of the PKK and warned that Ankara would
use its "right to self-defence" if Greece continues to support the
rebels.
   Almost 31,000 people have been killed since 1984 in the PKK's 
armed campaign for a Kurdish homeland and the Turkish military's
counter-measures.

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