Antenna News in English 171096

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From: Antenna Radio <http://www.antenna.gr> - email: antenna@compulink.gr

News in English, of 17/10/1996

TITLES

• An eyewitness's harrowing account of the Turkish murder of a Greek-Cypriot.
• A marathon for children with cancer.
• And, a new banknote to take some of the jingle out of your change.

CYPRUS

Originally, it was believed that the retiree Kakoulis was shot by the two Turkish soldiers after he strayed from the British base in Dekhelia into Turkish-occupied territory.

If that was not justification for the cold-blooded murder, the crime seems even more heinous in the light of Misis account, from which it becomes clear that the Turks talked to their victim for a quarter of an hour before executing him, and that they forced him into the Turkish- held zone to shoot him.

Misis says he was walking along elevated ground when Kakoulis calmly asked one of the Turks if he could speak Greek.

"I was so close I could hear them", Misis recalls.

The Turk spotted Misis, who moved to higher ground where he found cover.

"I stopped a car and told them to call the police, and walked up the road toward the village of Avgorou", he says. "What must've been 15 minutes later, I was waiting to see what would happen. I was halfway up the road to the village when I heard 2 shots in succession. Shortly after that, I heard the third".

The autopsy shows that the third shot proved fatal. Misis says they had forced Kakoulis to walk north and then west, into the occupied area, before doing the terrible deed.

Other residents of Avgorou find Misis's account credible.

"I don't believe Petros would enter the occupied territory on his own steam", says one man who knew him well. "I think the Turks made him go".

Says another resident: "They ordered him there under force of arms and executed him in cold blood".

Kakoulis was buried in his village Tuesday afternoon. The hearts of all those who were close to him, have been shattered. His family could find no relief from their anguish when his body arrived home before setting off on its final journey.

And they could not understand why a harmless man out looking for snails on a Sunday morning was brutally murdered.

BURNS / NILS

But Burns also appeared to take a distance from the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish sides, saying the murders have got to be stopped on both sides.

That is being interpreted to mean Burns believes Greek-Cypriots were responsible for the murder of a

Turkish conscript several weeks ago. But that soldier was killed in the Turkish zone, meaning a Greek-Cypriot couldn't have been involved. Moreover, the victim was a Kurd, who had openly disagreed with Ankara's Kurdish policy. Despite that, Burns urged the Greek-Cypriot authorities to help find the Kurdish soldier's murderer.

Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas responded to Burns's comments, saying it is wrong to lump the victim and the victimiser together.

Burns also said that the US wants to help resolve the Cyprus issue, but that it's up to both sides to find a real solution.

US ambassador Thomas Niles met with prime minister Kostas Simitis in Athens Tuesday. It was called a routine meeting.

But political observers note that it comes at a time of imminent US diplomatic initiatives over Cyprus and Greek-Turkish differences in the Aegean.

Observers also note that while Niles was meeting with Simitis, Turkish foreign minister Tansu Ciller was meeting with the US ambassador to Turkey.

GREEK BUS'MEN TO US

The embassy's commerce section is going to send groups of Greek wholesalers and retailers to international exhibits of products in the US.

Embassy press attache BJ Dowling says his department is going to work harder to help make high- quality, high-tech American products better known in Greece".

Embassy staff will accompany the business groups on their trips to the states, helping them make business contacts across the Atlantic.

The groups will visit commercial exhibits concerned mainly with information technology, electricity production, and medical instruments.

EDUCATION

But former education secretary Giorgos Papandreou says he's not bothered.

Following reports in the press that he's opposed to the plans of the new education minister, Gerasimos Arsenis.

Papandreou said he's ready to help Arsenis if asked, and believes his successor will be a success at the ministry.

Arsenis is already facing angry teachers. The union has already held a number of work stoppages around the country, protesting that 3 thousand teaching posts are still vacant at the start of the school year. That amounts to 60 thousand classroom hours lost per week.

LAMBRAKIS

The 14th International Grigoris Lambraki Athens Peace Marathon is being dedicated to kids with cancer.

This year's marathon runners are being asked to join their hopes of victory to the hopes of children battling cancer.

And there is much hope for the young cancer victims. Two thirds of children with cancer are cured if diagnosis is timely.

Eleni Kosmidou, director of oncology at the Aglya Kyriakou Children's Hospital says, "These kids don't just beat cancer with their spirit, they beat it physically, they're among us".

This year's marathon, slated for October 20th, will follow its traditional route, from Marathon to the old Olympic stadium in central Athens.

FERTILITY

Now, Sofikitis says it may not be long before he no longer needs sperm at all to allow men to pass their genes on to the next generation.

The next cell will be to remove cells from the testicles of a man, and implant them in a mouse, and then into a woman.

That procedure has already had intiial success in lab trials with rabbits. Male rabbit cells have been matured into sperm in mice, removed after two months, and used to impregnate female rabbits.

The first rabbits born this way are all fine.

But Sofikitis says it's early days yet: before the method can be judged fit for humans, several generations of rabbits will have to be observed, to see if the genetic procedure has any unwanted side effects down the road.

If the new method pans out, Sofikitis says it will give 30 to 40 thousand men in Greece alone, the ability to reproduce, even though they have no sperm.

OLYMPICS

The mayor of Athens and the head of the Athens Committee met to discuss their strategy to make the Greek bid successful.

Committee chair Yanna Daskalaki Angelopoulou and mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos said that the state and city governments must work with the committee to make the Athens campaign a winner.

Angelopoulos added, "This is a national matter, and needs the attention of us all".

The winning city will be announced in the autumn of 1997.

200 drachmae

The new note, worth about 90 American cents, features the bust of Rigas Feraios, a Greek revolutionary hero, on one side.

On the other side is representation of a famous lithograph:

"The Secret School", by Gizis. Secret schools were where Greek children received language and religious education during Turkish rule.

The dominant colour on the new banknote is orange, and its measurements are 129 by 60 centimetres.

Bank of Greece governor Loukas Papadimos says it's make small transactions easier, reducing the need for the 100 drachmae coin.

© ANT1-Radio 1996

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