Greek defence minister warns Turkey over air violations

Greek Defence Minister Akis Tsokhatzopoulos said on Wednesday that Greek Air Force fighters would intercept any foreign aircraft that violated the country's airspace.

He was speaking to Greek TV after talks with Prime Minister Konstandinos Simitis on the escalating tension with Turkey in the Aegean Sea region.

"Our policy on the violation of national airspace is firm.

This policy will be repeated in the future too.

Greek aircraft will take off and intercept the violators of our national airspace," Tsokhatzopoulos said.

Tsokhatzopoulos called on the Turkish leadership to listen to the messages it was receiving from Europe.

"What Ankara does is its own business.

But the fact is that Turkey is in a difficult position; it can resolve this once it comprehends the clear and specific messages that are being conveyed by Europe.

It only has to accept these in order to create the necessary conditions to overcome all the problems that exist," the Greek defence minister said.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.