Greece moves troops to Turkish border to face "security threat"
ATHENS (AFP) Nov 06, 2003
Greece said Thursday it will move army units posted on the frontier with former Soviet bloc countries to its border with longtime rival Turkey as part of plans to streamline the military.
"We are restructuring the armed forces towards the Evros river and the Aegean sea (Greece's land and sea border with Turkey) where the major threat is now," Defence Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said at a press conference.
"The northern threat doesn't exist anymore," he added.
Greece and Turkey, both NATO members, are still at loggerheads over the divided island of Cyprus as well as over air control and territorial rights in the Aegean Sea although they are seeking to iron out their differences.
Papantoniou's announcement came after the Greek cabinet approved plans to overhaul the military, which with 142,000 servicemen is currently one of NATO's largest standing armies.
Greece is planning to transform its forces into larger less scattered units, disbanding a number of units that were located during the Cold War alongside Greece's border with its northern neighbours Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria.
"We are creating flexible, mobile and more powerful units and adjusting the personnel numbers to realistic levels," Papantoniou said.
By 2005, 50 percent of Greece's hitherto predominantly conscript army will be professional soldiers, Papantoniou said.
The Greek army's concentration on its eastern Turkish border began as early as 1974, when Turkey's invasion of the northern third of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus brought the two countries to the brink of war.
http://www.spacewar.com/2003/031106154546.fvpu7ax9.html
ATHENS (AFP) Nov 06, 2003
Greece said Thursday it will move army units posted on the frontier with former Soviet bloc countries to its border with longtime rival Turkey as part of plans to streamline the military.
"We are restructuring the armed forces towards the Evros river and the Aegean sea (Greece's land and sea border with Turkey) where the major threat is now," Defence Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said at a press conference.
"The northern threat doesn't exist anymore," he added.
Greece and Turkey, both NATO members, are still at loggerheads over the divided island of Cyprus as well as over air control and territorial rights in the Aegean Sea although they are seeking to iron out their differences.
Papantoniou's announcement came after the Greek cabinet approved plans to overhaul the military, which with 142,000 servicemen is currently one of NATO's largest standing armies.
Greece is planning to transform its forces into larger less scattered units, disbanding a number of units that were located during the Cold War alongside Greece's border with its northern neighbours Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria.
"We are creating flexible, mobile and more powerful units and adjusting the personnel numbers to realistic levels," Papantoniou said.
By 2005, 50 percent of Greece's hitherto predominantly conscript army will be professional soldiers, Papantoniou said.
The Greek army's concentration on its eastern Turkish border began as early as 1974, when Turkey's invasion of the northern third of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus brought the two countries to the brink of war.
http://www.spacewar.com/2003/031106154546.fvpu7ax9.html
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