Diplomacy: Trying to Melt The Ice

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In midwinter, the Alpine village of Davos is an unlikely setting for any kind of thaw, much less one in relations between such bitter adversaries as Greece and Turkey. But a new era of Aegean neighborliness may be under way following secretly arranged meetings in the Swiss resort last month between Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou and Turkish Prime Minister Turgut Ozal. The leaders established two committees, one to foster ties in trade, tourism, banking, communications and culture, another to study perennial disagreements over air space and Aegean seabed and water rights.

Detente first bloomed after Papandreou sent a conciliatory message to Ozal. That led to two days of meetings during a World Economic Forum gathering in Davos. Papandreou and Ozal agreed to hold annual summits and set up an Ankara- Athens hotline to avoid misunderstandings.