From: zarros@turing.scs.carleton.ca (Theodoros Sp. Zarros) Subject: News 24/07/93, (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). To: macedonia@husc.harvard.edu (macedonia list.) Date: Sat, 24 Jul 93 18:34:37 EDT Cc: hellas@brownvm.brown.edu (Hellas Brown) bulletin, 24/07/1993 ( ) ------------------------ A.N.A. Athens, 24/7/93(ANA)--Israel said yesterday the divisive issue of Jerusalem should be set aside and discussed later on in the Arab-Israeli peace talks. ''Very sensitive issues should be set aside for later stages. Now we should negotiate what can be accomplished'', Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Yosi Beilin said in Athens. ''If the very sensitive issue of Jerusalem is tabled from the beginning then the wheels of the peace talks may come to a halt'', he told a news conference. Talsk on interim self-rule for almost two million Paleistinians in the Israleli-occupied territories have faltered over jerusalem's status. Israel claims all the holy city, including Arab East Jerusalem which it captured in 1967, as its undivided capital and refuses to discuss compromise at this phase. Mr Beilin voiced optimism that the Middle East peace talks which opened 20 months ago under the sponsorship of the United States, could lead to a solution as ''all parties involved desire peace and want to recognise each other''. He was speaking after talks with his Greek counteraprt, Virginia Tsouderou, with whom he signed a protocol on the creation of a committee that would meet twice a year to promote relations in the economic, tourism and cultural sectors. Mr Beilin denied having requested Greece to mediate efforts with the Palestinian side over the Jerusalem issue. ''Every government acts independently and Israel is open to any efforts to help resolve existing problems'', he said. Mr Beilin is the highest-ranking Israeli government official to visit Greece since full diplomatic relations were established in 1990. ''A new chapter of relations has opened between the two countries. It may come later, but better later than never'', he said. During his three-day stay, Mr Beilin also met with Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis and Foreign Minister Michalis Papaconstantinou. ana Athens, 24/7/93(ANA)--Australian delegates in Thessaloniki for the 6th international conference of Panmacedonian unions said yesterday there was no doubt as to the Greek origin of Macedonia, after visiting the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum. ''There is no doubt that Macedonia was and is Greece and only Greece'', he delegates said. The delegation, which includes the deputy premier of Victoria, a South Australian senator and former minister Theophanis Thephanous, viewed the museum's collection of archaeological finds from Vergina and Sindos which testify to the unbroken continuity of Macedonian Hellenism. The delegation is here to attend the official oepning of the conference tomorrow. The conference is due to be attended by representatives of overseas Panmacedonian unions and govenments from Europe,the US, Canada and South America. The conference will end Tuesday. ana Athens, 24/7/93(ANA)--Two Turkish nationals were arrested yesterday for attempting to smuggle 1.5 kilos of pure heroin into Greece. Ahan Katraman, 22, and Fenzi Malkaz, 29, were arrested in north-east Greece near the border with Turkey on a train bound for Athens. The two Turks told police that they had bought the heroin in Turkey and planned to sell it to drug dealers in Athens for 10.5 million drachmas. It is not known how Malkaz came to be at large after being arrested in November 1991 fro smuggling over 1 kilo of heorin into Greece. ana Athens, 24/7/93(Reuter)--Pionnering South African heart surgeon Christiann Barnard became a Greek citizen and an honorary Athenian yesterday. Barnard, 70, who performed the first heart transplant in 1967, was granted his long-standing wish to gain Greek citizenship by the conservative government. He told reporters attending a ceremony at the interior ministry that he had wanted to become a Greek citizen ever since he first came to the country as a visitor in the 1960s. ''I was already a Greek in my heart'', said Barnard, who reguralry visits Greece. He was also decorated with the medal of the city of Athens at a separate ceremony at City Hall. ana Athens, 24/7/93(ANA)--In a message commemorating the 19th anniversary of Greece's return to democracy after the fall of the seven-year military junta on July 24,1974, Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis yesterday stressed that democracy,while being the best kind of political regime, was also the most fragile. ''Democracy is government by dialogue, tolerance and responsibility and requires all due respect to its rules, both in letter and in spirit'', the premier's message said. He pointed out that Greece had paid a heavy price for the military dictatorship--the invasion of Cyprus--a price which Cyprus continued to pay to this day. ''Once again we call on the international community and declare that the withdrawal of Turkish occupation forces from the territory of the Republic of Cyprus, a meber of the United Nations, and the restoration of justice, freedom and human dignity in Cyprus is a primary and unanimous goal of the Greek nation''. Main opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement leader Andreas Papandreou , in his message noting the anniversary,said that the smooth operation of democratic institutions in Greece was again coming under threat:no this time from military coups but from the government's high-handed approach to the parliamentary process, trade union rights, local authorities and press freedoms. ana Athens, 24/7/93(ANA)-- --Foreign Undersecretary Virginia Tsouderou will leave for Singapore tomorrow at the head of delegation bound for ministerial -level meeting of the member-states of ASEAN and the European Community troika. The undersecretary will then visit Thailand on July 29-30 at the invation of her Thai counterpart S.Pitsuwan. --Agricultural Minister Christos Koskinas met yesterday with his Austrian counterpart Franz Fischler for talks on matters o fmutual interest. Talks focused primarily on Austria's EC membership bid and Mr Fischler called on Greece, which assumes the EC presidency on January 1 1994, to handle the issue positively. Mr Koskinas underlined the need for problems faced by mountainous and underprivileged regions to be tackled at Community level, adding that Mediterranean products should be protected in the light of GATT negotiations. Mr Koskinas accepted an invitation to pay an official visit to Vienna later this year. --The foreign ministry's European Community department--comprising the general directorate of Community affairs, the Greek EC presidency bureau, European Community legal services--will be found at the old Astir Hotel in Syntagma Square as of Monday. End