Page "Foreign relations of Greece" Paragraph 16

On Monday 23 December 2011, in an interview on Turkish newspaper BirGün discussing secret budgets, former Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz admitted that Turkish secret agents intentionally started forest fires in Greece between 1995 and 1997 during the Prime Ministership of Tansu Ciller as part of state-sponsored sabotage, resulting in huge damage caused by major forest fires on the islands of the eastern Aegean and in Macedonia.

Mesut Yilmaz's admission sparked political outrage in Greece on Monday, causing Greece's Foreign Ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras to say that the claims were “ serious and must be investigated ,” adding that Athens was awaiting a briefing from Ankara.

Conservative New Democracy ’ s shadow foreign minister Panos Panayiotopoulos said the revelations “ cast heavy shadows over Greek-Turkish relations ” and called on Turkey recompense Greece for losses incurred.

Following an official complaint from Greece on 24 December seeking clarification over comments by former Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz relating to forest fires in Greece in the mid-1990s, the Greek and Turkish foreign ministers, Stavros Dimas and Ahmet Davutoglu, spoke on Wednesday 28 December.

Dimas stressed how important it was that Ankara investigate the claims that in the past Turkey ’ s intelligence services paid arsonists to set fire to forests in Greece.

In addition to Greek Foreign Ministry meetings with Turkish officials, Greece ’ s Supreme Court prosecutor Yiannis Tentes launched an emergency inquiry on 27 December, ordering the investigations into the mid-1990s wildfires blamed on arson to be reopened with regard to the initial claims reportedly made by Yılmaz.

Former head of Greek intelligence service Leonidas Vasilikopoulos said they had received information from their agents in Turkey that Turkish agents or others were involved in the forest fires on Greek islands.

After making the comments in Turkish daily newspaper BirGün, Yilmaz said that his words had been distorted and that he was referring to Greek agents causing fires in Turkey.

However, on Thursday 29, Turkish daily Milliyet published an article referring to a secret report that seemed to support claims made in the interview by Mesut Yilmaz that secret agents had caused forest fires in Greece in the 1990s.

According to Milliyet, an associate of Yilmaz ’ s, Kutlu Savas, compiled a 12-page report that detailed the actions of Turkish agents in Greece.

It described how the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey ( MIT ) had formed two teams: one which carried out bombings at tourist sites on Crete and other parts of Greece and another which was responsible for starting the wildfires.

An attack on an army camp in Lamia, central Greece, is also mentioned.