Balkans: September 27, 2000

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On September 26 Britain's Foreign Secretary issued an interesting statement. Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said that the NATO fleet positioned in the Mediterranean Sea not far from Yugoslavia was not there "to send anyone a message." Well, of course it is. NATO combat power positioned near Yugoslavia is a major message to Milosevic. British ships in the fleet include the STOVL aircraft carrier, HMS Invincible and the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, The British statement came on the same day US Marines landed on the Croat island of Zirje. The Marines were participating in an amphibious warfare exercise with Croat forces. On September 27, a more ominous warning came from another NATO nation. Turkey's defense minister, Sabahattin Cakmakoglu, suggested that the "international community" might have to intervene militarily in Yugoslavia if Milosevic didn't accept "the will of the people (of Serbia)."