With
Undersea
Turkey Dispute
Airbrushed, UN
Stakeout is
All Greek, No
Photos
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 22 –
With Greek
foreign
minister
Dimitris L.
Avramopoulos
at the UN to
meet with
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon and
speak to the
media at the
Security
Council
stakeout, one
expected not
only Cyprus
and the
so-called
“name issue”
of the Former
Yugoslav
Republic of
Macedonia to
arise, but
also the
undersea
disputes with
Turkey.
Just
as Turkey is
sparring with
Cyprus on
hydrocarbon
exploration,
so it
is with
Greece. Inner
City Press has
covered the
former issue,
including the
proposal to
Ban Ki-moon by
the Turkish
Republic of
Northern
Cyprus.
But
when
Avramopoulos
and his
entourage
appeared at
the stakeout
microphone,
his entire
statement was
in Greek. Then
he stepped
forward to
speak to
reporters on
the other side
of the
barricade,
still shown on
the UNTV's
camera.
Suddenly,
however,
UNTV was
ordered to
move its boom
microphone
away, told
that
this was “off
the record”
although at
the stakeout.
Then
a journalist
who was taking
a photograph
on his cell
phone was told
to stop: no
photos should
be taken. This
violates the
UN's stated
Media Access
Guidelines --
photographs
are allowed in
this area,
without escort
or any
additional
permission.
Also,
this is where
the Guidelines
say “on the
record”
communications
are to take
place, in a
micro-management
that the Free
UN Coalition
for Access has
challenged in
a series of
reforms
submitted to
and
received by
the UN.
But
no one did
anything.
Inner City
Press went to
the day's
UN noon
briefing
-- held at 1
pm to include
announcement
of the UN
dismissing
claims it
introduced
cholera to
Haiti -- and
asked:
Inner
City Press:
Martin, mine
was actually a
question; it
was, did you
call on Pam
the last two
days as the
[United
Nations
Correspondents
Association]
representative
or as a
journalist?
Question.
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky: I
think I have
had enough of
this for
today, so
could I have
any other
questions,
please, thank
you very much.
Question:
On Greece, did
the Greek
Foreign
Minister
present to Ban
Ki-moon
some kind of a
communication
about the
exploration of
gas, oil,
hydrocarbons
by Turkey in
allegedly
Greek
territory?
Spokesperson:
I’ll have to
check,
Matthew, I
wasn’t there.
Thanks very
much. Have a
good
afternoon,
thank you. [He
later shared
the readout of
that meeting:
The
Secretary-General
met today with
H.E. Mr.
Dimitris
Avramopoulos,
Foreign
Minister of
Greece. They
exchanged
views on
the situation
in the Eastern
Mediterranean,
and also
focused on
prospects for
renewed
negotiations
to find a
comprehensive
settlement
in Cyprus and
to resolve the
Greece-former
Yugoslav
Republic of
Macedonia
“name”
dispute. The
Secretary-General
underlined the
importance of
accelerating
progress in
both
processes, and
reiterated
his personal
commitment to
that end.]
So
this read-out,
inserted
into the UN
transcript,
did not
include the
Turkish
undersea
issue, nor the
note verbale
that
Avramopoulos
came
to the UN to
file. Why not?
We'll have
more on all
this. Watch
this
site.
, 
