THE Greek Prime Minister, Mr Costas Simitis, cut short his summer holiday yesterday to face a fresh crisis with Turkey after two Greek Cypriots were killed in Cyprus.
Mr Simitis will chair a special cabinet meeting today to reviews the situation, and will then fly to Cyprus to confirm Greece's backing of the Nicosia government against the Turkish occupation forces in the northern third of the island.
Tomorrow he will attend a meeting in Nicosia of the Cyprus national council with President Glafcos Clerides of Cyprus and opposition party leaders.
"The premier wants to make it clear that any move by the Turks on the south will immediately mean war with Greece," said a senior government official.
Mr Simitis strongly criticised Ankara on Wednesday after a second Greek Cypriot protester was shot dead.
. The Department of Foreign Affairs has advised visitors to Cyprus to stay away from the buffer zone and to "stay well away from any protests". The Department is not advising against travelling there, but a spokeswoman reiterated an earlier caution to Irish travellers in Cyprus to "take due care and attention and listen to local advice".
Twohig Travel in Dublin said the trouble in Cyprus was happening well away from the tourist areas, and at the moment the agency was not advising customers not to go.