17/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - Turkish and Greek defence ministers, Sabahattin Cakmakoglu and Yiannis Papantoniou, held talks in Istanbul on Monday over setting up a direct telephone line between the two countries, which could help "avert the possibility of tensions which could be created in the crucial period leading to the decision of the EU summit in Copenhagen" in December, notes Greek press agency ANA. ANA reports that Papantoniou noted that "this is linked with the systematic violations and infringements of the national air space which the Turkish air force has proceeded in these past 18 months". ANA adds that Papantoniou affirmed: "Greece supports Turkey's EU candidacy more strongly and even more sincerely than any other EU member state… In order, however, for Greece to support Turkey's EU prospects, the Cyprus issue must also be solved in a just manner and of course the well-known unilateral Turkish claims against our national sovereign rights, particularly in the Aegean, should be abandoned."