Subject: News I - Fri, 27 Aug 1993 From: zarros@turing.scs.carleton.ca (Theodoros Sp. Zarros) Athens News Agency Bulletin, August 27,1993 =========================================== Athens, 27/8/1993 (ANA): Greece yesterday lodged protests with Turkey over the acts of vandalism and desecration committed by unknown persons at an Orthodox cemetery in Istanbul. "The Turkish government is obligated to investigate the matter and inform us about exactly what occurred and who is responsible", Foreign Minister Michalis Papaconstantinou said. Government spokesman Vassilis Manginas said that the Greek Consul General in Istanbul had lodged a protest with the prefect of the city while a second protest had been delivered to the Turkish foreign ministry by the Greek Ambassador in Ankara. "These acts are condemnable from every point of view", the spokesman said. Fourteen tombs at the Greek Orthodox cemetery in Istanbul were vandalised with sledgehammers. It is not known exactly when the attack took place but the damage was discovered Wednesday. Relatives of some of those buried at Yenikoy cemetery said the vandals had smashed marble crosses decorating the graves. Scattered bones were also found at the cemetery. The incident was also condemned by the main opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), which said the vandalisation demonstrated that Islamic fundamentalism and nationalist outpourings found fertile ground in Turkey. "Yesterday's sacrilegious barbarism against Hellenism and Orthodoxy in Istanbul once again makes Turkey accountable for violating human rights and the Treaty of Lausanne", PASOK said in a statement. Athens, 27/8/1993 (ANA): Culture Minister Dora Bakoyiannis yesterday said she would visit Moscow at the end of September to finalise arrangements for an exhibition of the treasures of the legendary King Priam of Troy. "Russian President Boris Yeltsin has offered to send the Priam treasure to Athens, where it will be exhibited publicly for the first time in half a century", she told a news conference. "We have accepted the offer and if all goes well Greece will exhibit one of the most important archaeological treasures of all time", she added. The treasures of King Priam, unearthed in 1873 by the late German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, will be exhibited at Schliemann's one-time residence in Athens. Ms Bakoyiannis said arrangements for the exhibition are still in the early stages and expressed the hope that plans could be finalised for the exhibition's opening before the end of the year. During an official visit to Greece in June, the Russian President had expressed his desire to see the treasures of Priam exhibited at the house in Athens which Schliemann built. Culture ministry officials said the Priam collection is probably the most complete ancient treasure and includes about 12,000 finely crafted gold and silver artefacts such as jewellery, goblets, plates and trays. A student of Homer since childhood, Schliemann retired from business in 1863 to dedicate himself to finding Troy and other Homeric sites. After several years of study and travel in 1871 he undertook at his own expense excavations at Hissarlik which resulted in the discovery of four superimposed cities. Schliemann originally brought the treasures to Greece before shipping most of the collection to Germany as a gift to the German state. After Germany's defeat in World War II, the collection was taken to Moscow although Russian officials only recently admitted possession. Skopje, 27/8/1993 (ANA - M. Vihou): The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's envoy to United Nations-sponsored talks on the Skopje issue said yesterday that direct talks with Greece would help reduce tensions between the neighbouring countries. "We believe these contacts are beneficial as they open the road for a peaceful and just solution of the problems and contribute to the safeguarding of tranquillity in relations between the two countries which will preserve peace in our region", Ambassador Ivan Tosevski said in an interview with Skopje radio. Greece on Monday agreed to begin direct talks at the UN with the former Yugoslav republic on September 28 under the auspices of the UN Secretary General's special representative Cyrus Vance. Referring to Monday's meeting at the UN with the Greek delegation, Mr. Tosevksi said this was essentially the first direct contact between the two sides. He added that the direct talks to be held under Mr. Vance's auspices would help reduce tensions between the two neighbouring countries and lead to a peaceful and mutually beneficial resolution of all problems between Athens and Skopje. The Vance-mediated talks, to be held in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 845 aim at resolving differences between Greece and Skopje over the former Yugoslav republic's name and its usurpation of Greek symbols. The former Yugoslav republic was admitted to the UN on April 8 under a temporary name but its flag not raised outside UN headquarters in deference to Greek objections over its inclusion of a 2,300-year-old Greek symbol, the 16-ray Vergina Sun. Greece also argues that the former Yugoslav republic's insistence on the name "Macedonia" implies territorial, ambitions against the northern Greek province of the same name. Skopje, 27/8/1993 (ANA - M. Vihou): United States congressman Newt Gingrich yesterday met with Skopje officials to discuss developments in the Balkans and US relations with the former Yugoslav republic, Skopje radio reported. It said Mr. Gingrich had held an exchange of views with Skopje's president, Kiro Gligorov, and deputy prime minister and acting foreign minister, Stevo Cervenkovski. Skopje radio said the congressman had expressed interest in how the US could aid Skopje economically, politically and militarily in order to help safeguard peace and stability in the region. It said he had also discussed progress towards resolving problems between the former Yugoslav republic and Greece. Mr. Gingrich is the head of a five-member US congressional fact-finding mission to the Balkans. The delegation began their tour of the region Tuesday with a visit to the Royal Tombs at Vergina. On Wednesday the delegation was received by Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis and visited the national defence and foreign ministries for briefings. Athens, 27/8/1993 (ANA): A priceless collection of stolen Mycenean jewellery, which a New York gallery has been accused of trying to sell, has been secured in a bank vault until legal proceedings for their return to Greece are completed, Culture Minister Dora Bakoyiannis said yesterday. "The jewellery has been placed in a vault and the second phase of the trial is proceeding", Ms Bakoyiannis told a news conference. "This is the first time that Greece has gone to court to fight for the rights of its cultural heritage", she added. Her statement came three months after Greece filed a suit against the Michael Ward gallery in New York for trying to sell some of the 50 pieces of the Mycenean jewellery. Culture Ministry sources said at the time that the gallery had obtained the collection at a Sotheby's auction. Greek archaeologists have identified the jewellery as pieces stolen from the Aidonia region near Corinth. Athens, 27/8/1993 (ANA): A strong earthquake measuring 5.5 on the open-ended Richter scale shook the island of Rhodes but caused no damages, police said yesterday. The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the quake's epicentre was located about 450 kilometres Southeast of Athens in the seabed Northeast of Rhodes. Athens, 27/8/1993 (ANA): A three-day conference entitled "Towards a European immigration policy" opens today at the Corelco conference centre in Kalamos with the participation of 200 scholars from Greece and Europe, organisers said yesterday. They said the conference conclusions would form the basis for a European Community-wide policy on migration within the framework of the Maastricht Treaty on European union. Scheduled speakers include Justice Minister Anna Psarouda-Benaki, Foreign Under-secretary Virginia Tsouderou, Interior Under-secretary Angelos Bratakos and Health Under-secretary Fani Palli-Petralia. European Court of Justice judge Constantine Kakouris will also present a paper on the protection of the civil rights of migrants from Third World countries. The conference is being organised by the Piraeus Bar Association, the European Graduated Alumni Association and the Corelco vocational schools. Athens, 27/8/1993 (ANA): A Turkish man has been sentenced to five years in prison for attempting to smuggle 35 illegal immigrants from Iraq into Greece aboard a speedboat from Turkey, court officials on Chios said yesterday. They said Serat Kartar was also fined 3.9 million drachmas by the Chios Court of Misdemeanours. Georgian Heresku, a Romanian national arrested with Kartar, was sentenced to 30 months in prison. The men were arrested on Tuesday by the island's port police as they dropped off the illegal migrants at a remote beach.