Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-04-13

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

CONTENTS

[01] Turkey-Greece-Cem-bilateral relations

[02] Blackwill-ELIAMEP-Mideast-Iran

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates-Friday

[04] Weather Forecast-Friday

[05] CoE - Loizidou - Irish

[06] ADEX-close

[07] ASE-close

[08] ASE-close

[09] Intralot-Telecom Serbia-contract

[01] Turkey-Greece-Cem-bilateral relations

ANKARA (ANA A. Abatzis) Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem on Thursday expressed the belief that unofficial talks on the methodology of wider discussions between Greece and Turkey will soon begin.

Speaking to journalists of the Turkish NTV television channel Cem expressed his belief that ?talks will soon begin between staff members of the foreign ministries of Greece and Turkey over methodological issues on Greek-Turkish differences?.

He added that during his meeting with Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou in Luxembourg, earlier this week, he discussed the possibility of a meeting of experts from Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria on cross border trade in Thrace and the Aegean.

He said that he reminded Papandreou that ?Turkey is ready for talks on issues regarding the Aegean,? stressing that ?the Aegean is an issue on which Turkey has several positions and wishes that a solution is arrived at, via talks?.

The Turkish minister said that Turkey wanted from the start to keep the Cyprus problem out of the Greek-Turkish rapprochement process.

[02] Blackwill-ELIAMEP-Mideast-Iran

A senior US foreign policy expert stressed here on Thursday that Europes security problem ?has almost entirely been solved?, except for two areas: the Balkans and Greek-Turkish differences.

?Problems in European security (west of the eastern Polish border) have been solved, which is an enormous accomplishment for Trans-Atlantic cooperation. This doesnt mean that the United States has no vital interests in Europe, it simply means that American interests arent threatened,? Harvard professor and Rand Corp. special consultant Robert D. Blackwill said in Athens.

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates-Friday

Following are indicative foreign exchange rates for commercial banks released by the central bank for the next working day

Friday's rates (buying)

Euro 332.389

U.S. dollar 347.627

[04] Weather Forecast-Friday

Sunny weather is forecast throughout the country on Friday, with limited visibility due to haze or mist.

[05] CoE - Loizidou - Irish

STRASBOURG (ANA Ch. Haralambopoulos) The Council of Europes (CoE) Irish presidency expressed its regret here this week over what it called Turkeys continuing failure to meet obligations stemming from the Loizidou case.

Greek Cypriot Titina Loizidou won a 1996 case against Turkey in the European Human Rights Court, which ruled that Ankara did not afford her the right to peacefully enjoy her property in the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus, specifically in the port town of Kyrenia.

The verdict further considered Ankara responsible for policies and actions in Cyprus' occupied areas and stipulated that the Republic of Cyprus remained the sole legitimate government of the island republic.

The Irish CoE presidency expressed its regret in a letter to Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, following the latest decision by the CoEs council of permanent members.

One portion of the letter cites ?concern? on the part of the CoEs membership regarding Turkeys commitments vis-a-vis the European charter for human rights. Another part of the letter refers to the future development of institutional relations between the European Union and Turkey, underlining the need for a resolution of the Loizidou verdict, namely, compensation by the Ankara government to the plaintiff.

According to CoE practice, the letter/reprimand comprises a warning to Turkey to implement the rulings provisions or face further sanctions including the possibility of expulsion from the organisation.

About 200,000 Greek Cypriots were forced to leave their homes when Turkish troops invaded and occupied the northern third of the island republic in 1974.

[06] ADEX-close

Derivatives prices ended sharply lower in heavy volume on the Athens Derivatives Exchange on Thursday following steep losses in the two benchmark indices, FTSE/ASE 20 and FTSE/ASE 40.

A total of 1,535 futures contracts were traded on the FTSE/ASE 20 index, with a turnover of 12.4 billion drachmas. The April expiring contract ended at 2,615.25 points, the May at 2,633.50 and the June contract at 2,640 points.

A total of 1,718 futures contracts were traded on the FTSE/ASE 40 index, worth 4.4 billion drachmas. The April expiring contract ended at 650 points, the May at 650 and the June contract at 660 points.

[07] ASE-close

National Economy and Finance Minister, Yiannos Papantoniou, on Thursday announced tax cuts in direct and indirect taxation and higher spending in health and education in the next four years.

Speaking at a ceremony for the incoming and outgoing finance undersecretaries, Papantoniou urged new sworn-in ministers to work efficiently to contain excessive public spending.

Next year's budget will focus on health and education, Papantoniou said.

The government will be more generous in measures to support employment due to its increased budget surplus, he noted.

[08] ASE-close

Equity prices came under heavy pressure on Thursday to end sharply lower on the Athens Stock Exchange as foreign investors liquidated positions in the market on worries of a slowdown in banks' profitability.

Blue chips were particularly hit as foreign and domestic institutional investors took profits following several rounds of interventions to support the market in the pre-election period. Smaller capitalisation stocks, also, lost ground reversing a three-day advance.

National Bank of Greece ended 6.3 percent lower, Alpha Credit Bank fell 4.5 percent, Hellenic Telecoms eased 4.2 pct and Panafon dropped 5.13 percent.

Only a handful of stocks managed to end higher.

The general index ended at 4,724.84 points, off 3.14 percent, off the day's lows of 4,657.80 points.

Turnover was a moderate 169.3 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks dropped 3.24 percent to 2,657.29 points and the FTSE/ASE 40 index ended at 652.66 points, down 4.13 percent.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 882.66 points, off 6.67 percent.

[09] Intralot-Telecom Serbia-contract

Intralot on Thursday announced the signing of a contract with Telecom Serbia for the supply of the Yugoslav telecommunications organisation with telephone cards through its subsidiary Yugolot Ltd.

A company statement said that Yugolot's sales network and partners totals 4,000 sites in the country.

Yugolot was chosen because of its know-how and its experience in developing new telecommunications sales network. Telephone card sales are steadily increasing in Yugoslavia accounting for 90 percent of total sales.

Yugolot operates the online lottery game in Belgrade.

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