Number: RS20149
Title: KOSOVO: GREEK AND TURKISH PERSPECTIVES
Authors: Carol Migdalovitz, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division 
Abstract: Western governments have cited a danger of the Kosovo conflict spreading to NATO allies Greece and Turkey as justification for military intervention in Kosovo. These two eastern Mediterranean neighbors have had difficult bilateral relations, which have worsened in recent years. Their overarching goals for Kosovo are strikingly similar, but their views of NATO's military campaign differ sharply. Greece opposes NATO's approach for reasons based on history, culture, competing foreign policy goals, and public opinion. Its sympathies lie with the Serbs. Turkey supports NATO's policy out of alliance loyalty and because of its shared history, culture, and attendant sympathies with the Kosovar Albanians. Turkey is participating in the military operation; Greece is not. Greece denies the possibility that a war with Turkey might result from the Kosovo conflict, but admits that a refugee crisis may contain politically destabilizing elements. Turkey, too, rejects the possibility that a war with Greece might arise from the current crisis. The Greek government is concerned about the implications of its position on Kosovo on U.S.-Greek relations. Turkey does not accept an analogy between the Kosovars and the Turkish Kurds.
Pages: 6
Date: Updated May 27, 1999