Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 97-06-06

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 06/06/1997 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• IOC members to visit Athens, Coe supports Athens bid
• Pangalos calls on Turkey to stop its bullying tactics
• Turkey refuses to grant permit for new Greek embassy building
• Simitis calls for a 'socialist prospect' for Europe
• Athens Bourse suffers heavy blow
• Shells found near Italian Consulate
• US State Dept. on Holbrooke's appointment
• Athens Mayor charged with dereliction of duty
• Australian politician calls for return of the Parthenon Marbles
• Eurocopter's helicopter presented to gov't officials
• Kidnapped stockbreeders released
• Several opera stars to appear together at Herod Atticus
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Four permanent members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are due to arrive in Greece tomorrow to be briefed on the matters relating to Athens' bid to host the 2004 Olympic Games.

Nils Holst-Sorensen of Denmark, Shagdarjav Magvan of Mongolia, Vladimir Cernusak of Slovakia and Ram Ruhee of Mauritius will be briefed by the president of the "Athens 2004" bid committee Yianna Angelopoulou-Daskalaki.

The IOC officials will also visit sports installations in Athens and plant four olive-trees, each bearing their name, at the "IOC Members' Park."

During their five-day stay, the officials will also be taken on a tour of archaeological sites and watch the end of the "Aropolis Rally" on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Olympic middle-distance gold medallist Sebastian Coe, who held the post of junior environment minister in the government of John Major, expressed his full support for Athens' bid to host the 2004 Games.

"The Greeks always had strong arguments for holding the Olympic Games. Particularly in the case of the 1996 Games, when the historical and cultural arguments were on their side. I am among those who believe in tradition, which is why I don't want to see the Olympic Games become just another commercial world champhionship," Coe said in statements to the Greek TV channel ET-1.

"I believe that the Olympic Games should be held in countries where the public will encourage the spirit of healthy competition between athletes. I believe that Greece is such a country," Coe said.

Coe also referred to a second resolution of British MPs calling on the new British parliament to openly support Athens' bid to host the 2004 Games.

The resolution underlines the importance of the Olympics returning to their birthplace and the possibilities this would afford the IOC of leading the Olympic movement back to its original ideals, free of excessive commercialisation.

Pangalos calls on Turkey to stop its bullying tactics

Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos yesterday called on Turkey to stop its "bully" tactics and threats of war, and reiterated that Athens was prepared to sign a non-aggression pact with Ankara since this would change the climate in relations between the t wo neighbours. Mr. Pangalos said Ankara was using war threats as part of a policy aimed at creating a framework of relations with Greece in which Turkey would have the upper hand.

He was speaking at the presentation of a book by ANA's Istanbul correspondent, Alkis Kourkoulas, entitled "Imia - A Critical Approach to the Turkish Factor."

Mr. Pangalos described Ankara's policy as "bully" tactics.

"This bullying approach has to stop so that there can be relations of equality which would allow the shaping of a framework of discussion and provision - from the outset - regarding the institutions through which problems may be resolved, institutions w hich are appropriate to the nature of the differences rather than to the nature of the disagreement," he said.

Mr. Pangalos said the threat of war hurled by the Turkish national assembly against Greece's right to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles did not hold water for legal reasons, since this right emanated from the International Law of the Sea.

In the event that Greece exercised this right tomorrow, Mr. Pangalos continued, the possibilities provided in the Law of the Sea enabling the passage of warships would automatically apply (safe passage).

Pleasure craft and cargo vessels, he added, would continue to sail in the Aegean as today. "If Ankara wanted to go to war because of Greece's exercising this right, this would be obstructed by the commitment undertaken by the United States through its envoy in Athens, Thomas Niles, that Washington would intervene in any Greek-Turkish conflict.

Mr. Pangalos reiterated that Greece would be willing to sign a non- aggression pact with Turkey "because this would resolve the problem created by the resolution of the Turkish national assembly and would change the climate in our relations."

Turkey refuses to grant permit for new Greek embassy building

Mr. Pangalos criticised Turkey's refusal to grant a building permit for a new Greek embassy in Ankara, saying it was an example of the poor relations between the two countries since the end of World War II. He also described it as "a ridiculous dimension of the point at which the mutual distrust between the two countries has reached."

The piece of land belonging to Greece in the Turkish capital was granted by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Mr. Pangalos said, noting that the refusal to issue a building permit was in violation even of Turkish laws.

Mr. Pangalos said Turkish Foreign Undersecretary Onur Oymen had found a new pretext for not granting the permit, by asking Greece for property of the same surface area in Athens.

"Mr. Oymen is demanding a ransom amounting to billions of drachmas," he added.

Simitis calls for a `socialist prospect` for Europe

Prime Minister Costas Simitis said a socialist prospect for Europe must be consolidated in negotiations for the new EU treaty, adding that the "moment is favourable" since at present socialists are in power in nine countries and participate in coalition governments in four others. The Greek premier spoke at the opening session of a conference of Socialist leaders of Europe, held in this Swedish port city.

Mr. Simitis said "it is common knowledge that something must change in Europe" and that the socialist values and prospect must be consolidated in the new treaty. He said that what is necessary is defining "a supranational cooperation policy between soci alist parties" to set the framework for future moves and discuss tactical issues.

Mr. Simitis expressed the view that the successes of Lionel Jospin in France and Tony Blair in Britain create the preconditions to tackle the problems of Europe and insisted on the need for commitments to be undertaken on common targets, common policies and actions for stability in Europe.

Athens Bourse suffers heavy blow

The Athens Stock Exchange suffered a heavy blow during the last trading session of the week as institutional players indulged in a massive sell-off, pushing the market 3.18 percent down.

The general index plunged to close below the 1,600 mark at 1,592.35 points.

Traders said institutional investors were taking higher liquidity positions ahead of the flotation of the second tranche of Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE) on the market.

Trading was moderate at 22.2 billion drachmas.

All sector indices lost ground. Banks fell 3.30 percent, Leasing was 3.39 percent off, Insurance dropped 0.20 percent, Investment eased 3.08 percent, Industrials fell 3.47 percent, Construction dropped 3.54 percent, Holding eased 2.68 percent and Miscelleaneous ended 3.20 percent down.

The Parallel Market index fell 1.71 percent.

Decliners overwhelmingly led advancers by 199 to 35 with another 13 issues unchanged.

Xylemporia, Viokarpet and Sato scored the biggest gains, while Britania, Flexopak, Rocas and GEK suffered the heaviest losses hitting the eight percent daily volatility limit.

Blue chips National Bank of Greece closed at 35,950 drachmas, Ergobank at 18,050, Alpha Credit Bank at 18,890, Titan Cement at 25,000, Intracom at 13, 390, Delta at 3,580 and OTE at 6,965 drachmas.

Shells found near Italian Consulate

Two anti-aircraft shells were today found behind the building which houses the Italian Consulate, Italian Institute and Italian Chamber of Commerce in the northern port city of Thessaloniki.

The 21 centimetre shells, which were discovered by an employee of the Italian Institute, were taken away by the police for examination.

US State Dept. on Holbrooke's appointment

US State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns reiterated Washington's determination in promoting a solution to the Cyprus issue yesterday, stressing that the appointment of Mr. Holbrooke was a clear indication of the intention of US President Bill Clinton and US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright for additional pressure aimed at finding a solution.

Mr. Burns said the aim of the US is the reunification of Cyprus with a status of bi-communal and bi-zonal federation and stressed that Washington will not support a solution not anticipating the reunification of the island.

Replying to a question, Mr. Burns assessed that the "realistic and cooperative government of Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, combined with the 'useful and positive' relation existing with Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides and the relation with the Turkish government can help in promoting a solution."

He said all the efforts by the US will not be isolated but will be coordinated with Britain, the UN and other interested parties.

On the question of a possible adoption of a Dayton-type process, Mr. Burns said the Cyprus problem differs from that of Bosnia and for this reason Mr. Holbrooke will assess the situation himself and then decide in accordance with what is required by the specific reality in Cyprus.

Athens Mayor charged with dereliction of duty

An Athens prosecutor today initiated proceedings against Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos for dereliction of duty concerning the ongoing garbage collectors' strike.

The head of the Public Prosecutor's Office for Athens First Instance Courts, Anastasios Kanellopoulos, filed the action after press reports about the health risk in the capital posed by piles of uncollected garbage and the filing of a similar complaint by the Athens Medical Association.

Meanwhile, Athens Prosecutor George Koliokostas this morning filed a complaint against ''all persons responsible'' for the violation of sanitary regulations and the health hazard posed by the piles of rotting garbage on the streets of Athens.

Garbage collectors were due to meet this morning with Interior Undersecretary Lambros Papadimas in an effort to find a solution to their demands for higher pay and job guarantees.

The strike, the second in a month, enters its fifth day today.

The government warned this week that it would move to have the strike declared illegal if it was not immediately called off.

"The government has decided not to tolerate this situation any longer," Interior Minister Alekos Papadopoulos said yesterday, describing the strike as "incomprehensible, unacceptable and fundamentally and legally groundless."

Australian politician calls for return of the Parthenon Marbles

The premier of the Australian state of New South Wales has sent a letter to British Prime Minister Tony Blair calling the new Labour government's recent decision not to return the Parthenon Marbles "harsh". "As a collea gue and an admirer of the British Labour Party," Bob Carr writes, "I appeal to you to rescind your decision and to honour the position of the former Labour Party leader Michael Foot who had promised to return the Marbles to the Parthenon where they belong ." Mr. Carr, who is due to visit Greece in September to clinch a deal with the Greek government regarding Sydney hosting an antiquities exhibition during the Olympic Games in 2000, said that he believed 2000 would be "the ideal time for such a big-hearted and civilised gesture from Britain".

Eurocopter's helicopter presented to gov't officials

A helicopter touted as capable of being used in police missions, rescue operations and firefighting missions was presented to government officials and representatives of public organisations and private enterprises in Athens yesterday.

The presentation was made by the PROMOT E.I. Lainopoulos S.A. company, the representative in Greece of the Eurocopter company, which manufactures the helicopter.

PROMOT president Ioannis Lainopoulos referred to the need to use helicopters, due to the country's geophysical formation and the nature of its terrain. He said successful cooperation between his company and Daimler Benz has led to cooperation with Euroc opter, in which Daimler Benz participates.

Eurocopter officials underlined the success of rescue operations with the use of helicopters which, in contrast to ambulances, can be used during traffic rush hours and over long distances.

Kidnapped stockbreeders released

Two stockbreeders in northern Greece kidnapped by Albanians last month have been released after relatives paid their captors a ransom of 30 million drachmas.

Leonidas Tsepas, 41, from Asproklisi, Thesprotia and George Prokopiou, 23, from Sagiada were released late last night at the Greek-Albanian border.

They had been kidnapped on May 20 near Sagiada by eight armed Albanians and taken to Sarande, southern Albania, where they were held until last night.

Several opera stars to appear together at Herod Atticus

Well-known foreign-based Greek opera singers will appear at the ancient Herod Atticus theatre on June 11 for an event entitled "Legendary Moments of the Opera".

The event is organised by the Hellenic Centre for Fighting Illiteracy Among Adults.

Singers include baritone Dimitris Kavrakos from the United States, soprano Jenny Drivalas from Switzerland, tenor Marios Frangoulis from Britain and mezzo-soprano Pamela Pantos from Germany.

John Apeitos will conduct the European Festival Orchestra.

The performance is under the aegis of the embassies of the countries in which the performers live and perform.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

(M.S.)

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