Despite the fact that Greece and Turkey, two NATO member countries, are just a breath away from a deliberate or accidental 'hot' episode after the unprecedented usurpation of part of the Greek continental shelf by Turkey, the international media, and first of all America’s, are not covering the issue at all.

I waited in vain yesterday morning to find the issue on the front page or even on the inside pages of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.

Not a word.

This is despite the fact that the Associated Press covers this news with articles – albeit brief ones – and photos, depending on what is going on.

So the question is, why? Certainly the possibility of a conflict between two NATO member countries is important enough news, even for a country’s biggest newspapers.

Certainly such a possibility is also interesting from the point of view that an event such as this would be a significant victory for Russia. It would cause a significant rift in the Alliance and would probably move one of the two countries even more towards Moscow.

And, moreover, why do we not see a high-level delegation of the American government – as it used to do – visiting the governments of Athens and Ankara to mediate between the two countries?

What’s happening?

There are at least two possible explanations:

1. They are not worried.

2. President Trump's close relationship with Erdogan greatly complicates the situation.

Let us look at these two explanations in more detail.

As for the first, that they are not worried, it is possible that Washington is anticipating the easing of the situation with the (imminent) commencement of negotiations between the two countries.

That seems to be the main goal of the Turks and the reason why they are creating all of this tension.

The Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, also seems to be looking for dialogue. In a written statement a couple of days ago, he said: 

"Despite our country's commitment to dialogue on the basis of the rules of international law and the law of the sea, a commitment which we are repeating now, Turkey has decided to indulge in its known delinquency."

It is clear where that is going.

The second explanation is that Washington, as we have pointed out many times in this column, due to the general political tension in the country, but also because of the upcoming elections, has neither the time nor any clear policy towards Turkey in particular.

Thus, for fear that they might provoke the anger of President Trump, the authorities avoid taking any major action against Turkey.

Meanwhile, the Turks continue to usurp the Greek continental shelf.

How much longer will the Greek tolerate this?