From: tzarros@ccs.carleton.ca (Theodore Zarros) Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Fri, 8 Jul 1994 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). Athens News Agency Bulletin, Government reshuffled, 14 new ministers, seven go ----------------------------------------------- Athens, 8/7/1994 (ANA): Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou last night announced a new 52-member cabinet in a government reshuffle, the first since his Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) came to power last October in a landslide election victory. He brought in 14 new men, nine of whom take office for the first time, and five having served in previous PASOK governments from 1981-89. Mr. Papandreou replaced seven from his previous 42-member cabinet. He made no changes in three key ministries, retaining Karolos Papoulias as Foreign Minister, Gerasimos Arsenis as National Defence Minister and Yiannos Papantoniou as National Economy Minister. But he moved Alternate Foreign Minister in charge of European Affairs Theodoros Pangalos to the post of Transport and Communications. Mr. Pangalos was replaced by Cypriot-born Yiannos Kranidiotis, who held the post of Foreign Ministry Secretary-General. The list of the new cabinet was announced by government spokesman Under-secretary Evangelos Venizelos who was promoted to the newly created Ministry of Press and Mass Media. Only a few hours before the reshuffle, Labour Minister Evangelos Yiannopoulos announced his resignation in a letter to Mr. Papandreou accusing him of failing to tackle the country's problems, and holding him responsible for the party's "poor showing" in last month's European Parliament elections. Mr. Yiannopoulos was replaced by Yiannis Skoularikis, an old-timer from previous PASOK governments. Mr. Papandreou transferred his son, George Papandreou, from the post of Foreign Under-secretary to head the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, a post he held in the past, replacing Dimitris Fatouros. Akis Tsohatzopoulos resigned as Interior Minister to concentrate on his duties as PASOK Secretary-General. He was replaced by Constantine Skandalides, who was moved from the Ministry of the Aegean. The post was taken over by newcomer Antonis Kotsakas. Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said former European Commissioner Vasso Papandreou had been offered the post of Alternate Industry Minister, but declined the offer on the grounds her "terms had not been met". Mr. Venizelos said that Dimitris Tsovolas, a Finance Minister in previous PASOK cabinets during the '80s, had been offered the key post of Labour Minister, but he too declined because no changes had been brought to the leadership of the economic and finance ministries. The new cabinet will be sworn in at noon today and hold its first meeting next Thursday. Press and Mass Media Ministry ----------------------------- Athens, 8/7/1994 (ANA): The creation of a new ministry was announced only hours before the government reshuffle. Following a decree by Mr. Papandreou, the General Secretariat for Press and Information was detached from the Ministry to the Prime Minister's Office to form the Ministry for the Press and Mass Media to be headed by government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos as minister. Party reactions --------------- Athens, 8/7/1994 (ANA): Reacting to the government reshuffle, the New Democracy party said in an announcement that the reshuffle, which - according to the Prime Minister - was supposed to make the government much more effective, ended up in tragicomedy. "The Prime Minister has realised neither the magnitude of the crisis nor the seriousness of the Greek people's problems," the announcement said. The reshuffled government simply grew in size, without any qualitative improvement, merely reshuffling failure and settling internal party differences, ND said. "The country remains without a government at a time when domestic problems, especially the economy, assume explosive proportions, and foreign issues are at a critical turn," the statement concluded. Political Spring party leader Antonis Samaras described the government reshuffle as "an endless shuffling of names that ended in disintegration instead of a reshuffle". President of the Coalition of the Left and Progress (Synaspismos) Nikos Costantopoulos said the reshuffle had made government shortcomings even more visible and blatant, being tantamount to mere change of persons and distribution of posts. "We are still on the automatic pilot of the convergence programme, without a political compass or vision. The government is playing its party 'puzzle' at a time when the economy is sinking, society is choking and the country is going downhill," said Mr Costantopoulos. The new cabinet is as follows: ----------------------------- Athens, 8/7/1994 (ANA): Prime Minister: Andreas Papandreou Under-secretary to the Prime Minister: Antonis Livanis Minister to the Prime Minister's Office: Anastasios Peponis Under-secretary to the Prime Minister's Office: Maria Arseni National Defence Minister: Gerasimos Arsenis National Defence Under-secretary: Nikolaos Kouris National Defence Under-secretary: Emmanuel Beteniotis Foreign Affairs Minister: Karolos Papoulias Foreign Affairs Under-secretary: Yiannos Kranidiotis Foreign Affairs Under-secretary: Gregoris Niotis Interior Minister: Constantine Skandalides Alternate Interior Minister: George Daskalakis Interior Under-secretary: Kimon Koulouris National Economy Minister: Yiannos Papantoniou Alternate National Economy Minister: George Romaios National Economy Under-secretary: Ioannis Anthopoulos Finance Minister: Alexandros Papadopoulos Finance Under-secretary: Dimitris Georgakopoulos Finance Under-secretary: Nikolaos Kyriazides Agriculture Minister: George Moraitis Agriculture Under-secretary: Floros Constantinou Agriculture Under-secretary: Vassilios Vassilakakis Labour Minister: Ioannis Skoularikis Labour Under-secretary: George Adamopoulos Health, Welfare and Social Security Minister: Dimitrios Kremastinos Welfare Under-secretary: Emmanuel Skoulakis Social Security Under-secretary: Foivos Ioannides Health Under-secretary: Nikolaos Pharmakis Justice Minister: George Kouvelakis Education and Religious Affairs Minister: George Papandreou Alternate Education and Religious Affairs Minister: Philippos Petsalnikos Education and Religious Affairs Under-secretary: Eleni Stephanou Culture Minister: Thanos Mikroutsikos Culture Under-secretary: Nikolaos Sifounakis Sports Under-secretary: George Lianis Tourism Minister: Dionysios Livanos Merchant Marine Minister: George Katsifaras Public Order Minister: Stylianos Papathemelis Public Order Under-secretary: Sifis Valyrakis Macedonia-Thrace Minister: Constantine Triarides Aegean Minister: Antonios Kotsakas Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister: Constantine Laliotis Alternate Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister: Constantine Geitonas Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Under-secretary: Ioannis Tsaklides Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Under-secretary: Elizabeth Papazoi Industry, Energy and Technology Minister: Constantine Simitis Alternate Industry, Energy and Technology Minister: Christos Rokofyllos Trade Minister: Constantine Simitis Trade Under-secretary: Michael Chrysochoides Transport and Communications Minister: Theodoros Pangalos Transport and Communications Under-secretary: Athanasios Tsouras Transport and Communications Under-secretary: Dimitrios Alabanos Press and Mass Media Minister, Government spokesman: Evangelos Venizelos Press and Mass Media Under-secretary: Telemahos Hytiris ANA Papoulias leaves for Skopje talks with Vance, no meeting with FYROM FM ----------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 8/7/1994 (ANA): Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias leaves Sunday for New York for talks with UN special mediator on the Skopje issue Cyrus Vance, Foreign Ministry spokesman Costas Bikas said yesterday. Mr. Bikas added talks were part of UN efforts to resolve the ongoing dispute between Greece and FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). Mr. Papoulias' meeting with the UN mediator was originally scheduled to follow immediately Euroelections, but was postponed owing to Mr. Vance's sudden indisposition. FYROM Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski will also be having separate talks with Mr. Vance next week. Mr. Bikas clarified that no meeting had been scheduled between Mr. Papoulias and Mr. Crvenkovski. Greece shares grief over slaying, but Ankara claims "unacceptable" ----------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 8/7/1994 (ANA): The government yesterday called on Turkey to stop using the assassination of a senior Turkish diplomat, on Monday, in Athens, as a vehicle to induce artificial tension in bilateral relations. Ankara should also put an end to allegations holding Greece responsible for the deadly attack. Foreign Ministry spokesman Constantine Bikas said the assassination of Omer Haluk Sipahioglu, shot dead by a three-man hit-squad of the notorious November 17, "should not be used as a vehicle to create a climate of tension in Greek-Turkish relations." "Our country shares the grief caused in Turkey by the horrendous assassination," Mr. Bikas said. "But it is not possible to use it as a medium for creating tension in Greek-Turkish relations." he added. Reiterating previous statements by Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias and government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos, Mr. Bikas rejected Turkey's allegations calling them "unacceptable." "Greece itself is a victim of terrorism," Mr. Bikas said reiterating that "our country, which is not the only one hit by terrorism, takes part in international efforts to combat this plague." The spokesman added Greece would not follow Turkey in its string of statements and provocations. Kurd: Ankara canvassing world support ------------------------------------- Istanbul, 8/7/1994 (ANA): Ankara yesterday seemed set to launch an "international support campaign" for its policy on the Kurdish problem, by linking it to the assassination of a senior Turkish diplomat in Athens. "The assassination should serve as a strict warning to the Western countries criticising Turkey's struggle against terrorism," Turkish Ambassador to Washington Nuzet Kademir said. Ankara's policy against the Kurdish guerrillas lately came under fire in the American press. The US Congress recently gave Turkey further battering by attempting to link US aid to Turkey to the latter's respect for human rights. Meanwhile in Vienna, the Democracy and Human Rights Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) yesterday approved a proposal for sending observers to Turkey to monitor the human rights situation in relation to the Kurdish problem. Greece wants shooting incident cleared up, Albanian evidence insufficient ------------------------------------------------------------ Athens, 8/7/1994 (ANA): Greece said yesterday it wanted to shed light on an incident in a conscript camp just inside the Albanian border with Greece last April, in which two soldiers were killed and three others were injured. "Greece wants to fully clarify the incident at Episkopi, near Gjirokastr, and is waiting for the Albanian side to supply the necessary evidence which it claims to possess, in order to investigate the matter," Foreign Ministry spokesman Constantine Bikas said. He was referring to Wednesday's second meeting of the joint Greek-Albanian police commission in Kakavia, near Ioannina, on the Greek-Albanian border. The meeting took place on the initiative of the Greek side. the spokesman added. Mr. Bikas said Albanian police experts "did not produce any evidence to support their claims or shed light on the investigation". After Wednesday's meeting, he said, "both sides reiterated the need for co-operation in resolving the multiple problems that have arisen on the Greek-Albanian border from the illegal movement of immigrants and in combating all forms of illegality". "In this context Greece looks forward to continuing the work of the joint commission and increasing police co-operation ," Mr. Bikas said. Greek demarche with Tirana over Tsamides motion ------------------------------------------------ Athens, 8/7/1994 (ANA): The Foreign Ministry lodged a demarche yesterday with the Albanian Foreign Ministry over a law passed by the Albanian Parliament designating June 27th as a date for commemorating the "Genocide of the Tsamides," a minority of Albanian Moslems who collaborated with Nazi and Fascist occupation forces during World War Two and left Greece after their withdrawal. Foreign Ministry spokesman Constantine Bikas said the demarche, lodged with Tirana via diplomatic channels, aimed at expressing the government's displeasure at a move aiming "at distorting the real facts." Mr. Bikas said the move of the Albanian government "does not contribute to the restoration of a climate of trust between the two countries." The spokesman said the Greek government kept historic documents on the Tsamides minority intending to use them at an appropriate moment.