Greece Vital to NATO, Minister Says

The continued economic and military welfare of southeastern Europe and of the European Common Market depends on Greece's membership in the market and its readmittance to NATO, Constantine Mitsotakis, Greece's Foreign Minister, told a crowded Kennedy School Forum last night.

A return to membership in NATO, a peaceful solution of differences with Turkey, and a solution to the problem of Cyprus are the primary foreign policy goals of the present Greek government and "of all the Greek people," Mitsotakis said.

Turkey continues to veto Greece's request for readmittance to NATO, Mitsotakis said. He added that Turkey's conditions for accepting Greece back into NATO are totally unacceptable to the Greek government.

Mitsotakis said he views Greece as a "bridge" between Western Europe, the Balkans, and the Middle East. Greece withdrew from NATO in 1974 in response to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The Greek government felt that lack of NATO response justified the move, Mitsotakis said.

He said it is unreasonable for Turkey to receive continued NATO aid when it is Turkey who blocks Greece's bid for resumed NATO membership.

Mitsotakis said that Greece wants Turkey to have a strong, democratic government, and only then can the two countries resolve their differences.

Improvement of general Greek-Turkish relations will ultimately help solve the problem of Turkish occupation of Cyprus, Mitsotakis said. He added that the problem stems from Turkey's refusal to recognize the existence, under international law, of a continental shelf around Cyprus--preferring to consider Cyprus on an extension of the Turkish continental shelf.

After the speech, a panel moderated by former Gov. Michael Dukakis discussed Mitsotakis's speech. Minos Zambinakis, and international economist, said that it is "unthinkable" for Turkey to follow a foreign policy that the Soviet Union opposes, and that the U.S. should rely more on Greece than on Turkey.