MPA NEWS IN ENGLISH (08/08/1996)

From: Macedonian Press Agency <mpa@philippos.mpa.gr>

Macedonian Press Agency News in English Directory

MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Thessaloniki, August 8, 1996

NEWS IN ENGLISH

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

[C] EUROPEAN NEWS

TITLES

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

[C] EUROPEAN NEWS

NEWS IN DETAIL

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[01] DEFENSE MINISTER ISSUES STERN RESPONSE TO TURKISH ARMY'S REPORT

Minister of National Defense Gerasimos Arsenis has issued a stern response to the turkish army's report claiming over 100 Greek islands and islets in the eastern Aegean, by stating that this form of turkish provocation is nothing new to Greece.

"It is common knowledge that Turkey has been trying for some time now to create this climate of doubt at an international level," Mr. Arsenis stated.

"The best response we can give is the firmness of our position and our powerful armed forces which can function as a strong deterrent."

According to excerpts published yesterday in the turkish daily "Cumhyrriet", the army report claims that any islands which are located within six miles from the turkish coast "by law belong to Turkey, the successor of the Ottoman Empire" and further states that Greece was not awarded these islands after the break-up of the Ottoman Empire during the Balkan War of 1912-13.

"Turkey still retains sovereignty over the islands which were not given to Greece under article 12 of the 1923 Lausanne Treaty," the report states.

Moreover, the report accuses Greece of allegedly "claiming all of the Aegean islands that are not mentioned in the Lausanne Treary -which recognized Greek sovereignty over the eastern Aegean islands- and the 1947 Paris Treaty which settled the sovereignty over the Dodekanese islands.

"Greece has succeeded in disputing the Turkish sovereignty over Kardak (Imia) which is turkish territory according to international law," the report also mentions.

However,according to Konstantinos Hatzikonstantinou, alternate professor of international law at Thessaloniki's Aristotle University, these claims have no political or legal merit.

"Ankara is attempting to create conditions of political negotiation and to avoid a discussion at the International Court of Justice at The Hague regarding the jurisprudence of its positions," Mr. Hatzikonstantinou told the Macedonian Press Agency, adding that "it is a task that falls on the Greek government to avoid this unpleasant development, since negotiations over issues that are non-negotiable will only lead to a paling of the already-existing rights."

Specifically, commenting on the turkish accusatory claims that Greece has seized all those Aegean Sea islands that are not mentioned in the Lausanne Treaty and the Paris Accord, Mr. Hatzikonstantinou stated that this is a ploy to present a false picture of Greece as being in violation of international laws, "thereby reversing the firm Greek position that it is Turkey that violates the international law and it is Greece which always supports it.

"The status in the Aegean Sea is not something that is created gradually. It always existed, since the Treaties were signed, and for so many years Greece's sovereignty over the Aegean was unquestioned," the professor pointed out. He added that following the incidents over the Imia islets and Turkey's unsuccessful attempt to bring the island of Gavdos into "gray zones", it is now the turkish army's turn to make an attempt at creating its own facts.

"We must understand, that the military is Turkey's largest political force," Mr. Hatzikonstantinou stated. "This is not a military which does not get involved in policy making, as is normally done in democratic countries."

Lastly, the international law expert supported that resorting to The Hague for the continental shelf issue is feasible, as it concerns a legal issue. However, he added, "I believe that it would be a mistake to be driven to solutions and to always suggest legal resolutions through the International Court for issues regarding Greece's sovereignty."

[02] GREEK PROFESSORS OF INTER'NAL LAW HAIL TUDJMAN-MILOSEVIC MEETING AS ATHENS' DIPLOMATIC SUCCESS

Greece seized the opportunity to cement itself as Balkan peacemaker by coordinating yesterday's Athens-held meeting between Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and his Croatian counterpart, Franjo Tudjman, thereby crowing Greek diplomacy with impressive success.

Speaking to the Macedonian Press Agency, International Law professor at Thrace's Democritus University Krateros Ioannou stated that the meeting constitutes a great success for Greece as "the fact that holding the meeting in Greece was accepted by Franjo Tudjman, who is known for his pro-German sentiments, is a confirmation that Greece's role in the greater Balkan region can prove to be quite positive."

Similarly, Konstantinos Hatzikonstantinou, alternate professor at Thessaloniki's Artistolte University, the meeting reflects highly on Greece as its initiative is saluted from both the juxtaposing sides and the international community.

"It was Greece which prodded the two leaders to not only conduct talks, but to also agree on a framework which, if followed to the end, can bear results."

Yesterday's Tudjman-Milosevic meeting was the first between the two men since the Dayton peace accord signing in November 1995 and the first ever face-to-face meeting after the croatian independence from rump-Yugoslavia five years ago.

[03] GREECE'S ROLE IN TUDJMAN-MILOSEVIC MEETING RECOGNIZED INTERNATIONALLY

Greece has played a crucial coordinating role in the Balkans, following the restoration of relations agreement signed yesterday between Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and Croatian President Franjo Tudjman in a meeting initiated by Greek Premier Kostas Simitis.

International news agencies and television networks have given emphasis on Greece's positive input in the efforts to establish peace and stability in the Balkans. According to the foreign press reports, Greece has seized the opportunity to act as Balkan peacemaker as Presidents Milosevic and Tudjman have also settled their differences over economic and humanitarian issues.

Following yesterday's meeting, held in Athens' seaside resort of Vouliagmeni, Mr. Simitis stated that Greece will continue to undertake such initiatives and added that the government plans to hold a Foreign Ministers level Balkan meeting next year in Athens.

[04] PRESIDENT OF GREECE TO VISIT EARTHQUAKE-STRICKEN TOWN OF KONITSA

The President of Greece Konstantinos Stephanopoulos will visit the earthquake-stricken town of Konitsa, 300 kilometers west of Thessaloniki, tomorrow, accompanied by Minister of Culture Stavros Benos.

Already visiting the premises is the undersecretary of Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Manolis Loukakis, while the Ioannina Prefecture's repair units are assessing the damages caused by Tuesday morning's tremor that measured 5.6 on the Richter scale. According to up-to-date estimates, more than 270 houses have been condemned.

[05] GREEK PRESS COMMENTARIES ON THE PROVOCATIVE TURKISH ARMY REPORT

The provocative report issued by the turkish War Academies Headquarters, which disputes the greek sovereinty over 100 islands and islets in eastern Aegean caused strong reactions in Greece.

The greek press condemned Ankara's new provocation underlining the outrageous aspirations of the turkish military establishment over Greece.

In its main article the newspaper "Eleftherotypia" writes that after the issue of Imia, which left Turkey internationally exposed, the hot-headed in this country are back with the publication of a naive report put together by the War Academies Headquarters, which disputes the status of 100 islands and islets in eastern Aegean. The article concludes that Ankara can bring its case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, adding that the turkish government will not do that because it knows that it will lose the case, while it underlines that Turkey raises such issues in an unsuccessful effort to divert attention away from its domestic problems.

"Kathimerini", in its main article on the same issue writes that the turkish army report which disputes the greek sovereignty over 100 islands and islets in the Aegean, the island of Kalymnos included, constitutes a unique opportunity for the greek government to show to the world community that the turkish military establishment is a major threat for security and stability in the region.

The article mentions that ms.Ciller's presence in the turkish Foreign Ministry leaves no room for optimism that there will be a negative reaction to the turkish army report, because when she was Turkey's Prime Minister she had also disputed the greek sovereignty over the Aegean islets. Therefore, the article continues, turkish Prime Minister Erbakan will have to be the one to find a way to change the negative impressions created by the content of the report.

The newspaper "Ethnos" characterizes the report as an "artful plan" concerning the Aegean and points out that the "made in USA" bluff must be dealt with in its true dimensions adding that the prudent tactic which is based on the position that "Greece does not claim anything" possibly will have to be reviewed if the "grey zones" are turned into targets of crude intervention.

The newspaper "Ta Nea" sees behind this turkish provocation an effort by Ankara to force Greece into a negotiation that covers all issues, stressing that dealing with such a tactic compliance is not allowed and that Greece's position must be made clear and firm. The article also stresses that unfortunatelly this is not enough anymore and that it is about time for Greece to hammer out an aggressive diplomatic strategy not only for the preservation of today's status in the Aegean but also in order to claim hellenism's rights which for years now Greece appeared to have abandoned.

The newspaper "Apogevmatini" characterizes Turkey's provocation as "unprecedented and idiotic" because the turkish army report claims islands and islets near Crete. After mentioning the Lauzanne Treaty, the newspaper concludes that Greece now has to denounce Turkey internationally, adding that Turkey with this new provocation has shown to the international community that it is a country that constitutes a serious threat for peace.

[06] MAIN OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER MILTIADES EVERT VISITS EVROS REGION

Main opposition party leader, New Democracy's Miltiades Evert, is currently on a one-day visit in northern Greece's Evros region, where he travelled to examine the area's stockbreeding situation following the foot and mouth disease outbreak that struck its animals last month.

After touring the agricultural units in the cities of Feres, Didimoteicho and Orestiada, Mr. Evert participated in an afternoon session held by the Evros Prefecture.

The main opposition leader pointed out that the development of isolated regions is a foremost priority for his party and promised that New Democracy will exert pressure on the government for issuing immediate compensation to stockbreeders following their suffered losses resulting from the slaughtering of the animals.

[07] YIANNIS PANOUSIS, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF GREEKS ABROAD, RESIGNED TODAY

The Foreign Ministry's Greeks Abroad Secretary-General Yiannis Panousis has submitted his letter of resignation today, which was accepted by both the Prime Minister Kostas Simitis and the Foreign Minister Gerasimos Arsenis.

According to a recent consultation conducted by the State Legal Council, Mr. Panousis could not concurrently hold the position of Secretary-General and that of Dean at Thrace's Democritus University.

As such, Mr. Panousis opted for the deanship at the University. No candidates for his replacement have been announced yet.

[08] GREEK CHILDREN FROM BULGARIA ON MONTH-LONG VISIT TO KAVALA

More than one hundred Greek children living in Bulgaria are being hosted in northern Greece's city of Kavala, following the invitation issued by the city's municipality.

The children, who will stay in Greece throughout the month of August, will have the opportunity to learn Greek and become acquainted with the country's music, dances and overall culture.

[09] PROJECT TO TRANSMIT ERT PROGRAMS TO US ENTERS ITS FINAL STAGES

The Third Program of the Radio Station of Macedonia of ERT 3, highly popular radio program heard by Greeks throughout the world was celebrated last night in Thessaloniki, for the third year in a row, under the auspices of Macedonia-Thrace Minister Philippos Petsalnikos.

According to Mr. Petsalnikos, Greeks living abroad are "the best ambassadors for Greece" and as such, the country and the ministry of Macedonia-Thrace will offer its utmost support in the struggle to maintain the greek national identity abroad.

The event's organizers have stated that there are listeners from throughout the world who scheduled their summer vacations accordingly in order to be able to attend last night's events.

[10] GREEK TELEVISION TO SOON BE TRANSMITTED IN NORTH AMERICA

Final arrangements that will allow for transmission of the Greek Television signal to North America were combed through recently during an Athens-held meeting held among Press Minister Dimitris Reppas, ERT President Panagiotis Panagiotou and the President of the World Council of Hellenism (SAE) of North and South America Region Chris Tomaras.

Along with ERT's program, the project also includes transmitting a few hours of Cypriot Television programming. A SAE proposal has been accepted that will allow a two-fold distribution of the signal, namely through cable and small-size satellite dish. The monthly fee for the Greek program will be up to $10 for each subscriber.

Also, following a SAE proposal that was accepted by the Greek government, a sizable segment of the program will carry subtitles. Greek-American media will also be able to carry certain segments of ERT's signal during specific periods.

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

[11] TURKISH HELICOPTERS VIOLATED THE CYPRIOT AIRSPACE

Cypriot alternate government spokesman Spyros Arotis confirmed today the information that turkish helicopters entered Cyprus' airspace yesterday.

Mr.Arotis added that the Foreign Ministry protested to the United Nations over the turkish provocative action.

[12] A GERMAN CHARTERED PLANE CONDUCTING THE FLIGHT TO THE GREEK ISLAND OF RHODES RETURNED TO STUTGARD AFTER A BOMB THREAT

A "Germania" airline passenger plane conducting the charter flight Stutgard-Rhodes was forced to return to Stutgard Airport after a bomb threat, as it was announced by the local police.

After a 3-hour search no bomb was found and the airplane with its 140 passengers departed again for the Aegean island of Rhodes.

[13] US, UN CONCERNED OVER CONVOY OF BIKERS' WISH TO DEFY CYPRUS' DIVIDE

The United Nations and the United States have expressed their concern over the "live free, drive free" bikers convoy, composed of motorcyclists from several European coutnries, that plans to ride across Cyrpus' demarcation line on Sunday.

US Ambassador to Nicosia Kenneth Brill met with Cypriot Foreign Minister Alekos Michaelides and discussed the situation as it is so far.

According to reports, the occupying regime has issued orders to open fire at any motorcyclists who will attempt to cross into the turkish-occupied areas. Moreover, turkish troops are deployed in the buffer-zone area.

Turk-cypriot press reported that on Sunday, the day of the convoy, a ban will be issued for all high-power motorcycles in occupied Nicosia, Famagusta and Morfou.

[14] TURKEY TORTURES AND EXECUTES DEFENSE LAWYERS OF KURDISH LABORISTS

Lawyers who dare to defend members of the Kurdish Labor Party, are subjected to arrests, beatings, abductions, tortures and, ultimately, executions by the turkish government.

The International Judicial Committee, which is reporting these data, has also stated that human rights are systematically violated in Turkey and the local authorities display utter disrespect towards international law regulations.

The International Federation for Human Rights has also published reports on the arrest and imprisonment of 460 journalists in Turkey and has attached over 300 publications from the turkish authorities.

[15] GREEK-AUSTRALIAN AWARDED FOR HIS BRAVERY IN SAVING ONE'S LIFE

A 27-year-old Greek-Australian will be granted an award for his bravery by the Australian government, in recognition of his courage in saving another man's life.

In February of 1995, Michalis Kessisoglou, from Perth, saved a driver from a gang of drunks who were beating him and threatening to kill him.

"If I stopped for a minute and thought of what I was doing, maybe I wouldn't have gotten in the middle of thirty drunks," Kessisoglou said.

[16] GREEK PROFESSOR TO LECTURE AT UNIVERSITIES IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Following an invitation issued by the Modern Greek Studies Department of Melbourne's RMIT University, greek associate professor of Philosophy at the Ioannina University Grigoris Karaphyllis will provide them with a series of lectures.

Part of an exchange program between the two universities, Professor Karaphyllis will also have a series of contacts with Greek-Australian educators and will be updated on the teaching of the greek language to Greek-Australian students.

[C] EUROPEAN NEWS

[17] BANK OF ENGLAND WARNS OF PROBABLE RISE IN INTEREST RATES

The opinion that British interest rates will probably have to go up at some stage if the government is to stand any chance of meeting its inflation target in two years' time according to estimations expressed by officials of the Bank of England.

In its quarterly inflation report, the central bank states that its projection was that underlying inflation, excluding mortgage interest payments, would be a little above 2.5% two years from now,with risks more on the upside than the downside if interest rates remain unchanged.

" In the coming months the question on the table is more likely to be when to raise interest rates than when to cut them" Mervyn King, the bank's chief economist, told and added that the question of when rates should go up would depend on the economic data at the time of the monthly monetary policy meetings between Chancellor of the Exchequer and Bank of England Governor.

[18] ADIDAS NET PROFIT ROSE TO 40.4% IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1996

A net profit rise to 40.4% to 184 million marks, or 124 million dollars, in the first half of this year was announced by the German sports goods manufacturer Adidas.

That profit rise came on the back of a world wide sales increase of 28% to 2.28 billion marks and sales were given a big help by the success of Euro 96 and the Atlanta Olympics, but marketing and promotional costs dampened profits.

[19] AID TO IRELAND FOR TRANSPORT AND ENVIROMENTAL PROJECTS FROM EU'S COHESION FUND

An aid of a total of ECU 344.7 million from the Cohesion Fund for several environmental and transport projects in Ireland has been approved by the European Commission.

The Cohesion Fund contribution for all projects varies between 60 and 85% of the public expenditure, and nineteen projects will benefit from this aid, as for instance two rail projects in the counties of Dublin and Wicklow or two water supply projects in the counties of Sligo and Tipperary.

[20] COMMISSION'S ACTION TO PREVENT ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES IN MOBILE PHONES SECTOR

The limitation of of the "SIM Lock" feature in mobile phone handsets has been ordered by the Directorate-General for Competition (DG IV) to GSM/DCS1800 handset manufacturers and network operators in the EEA .

The "SIM Lock" feature effectively ties the customer to one GSM operator or service provider.

The Commission claims that the handset must be able to be unlocked upon demand by the consumer which will avoid a reinforcement of the division of the mobile phone market along national lines.

[21] COMMISSION APPROVES BP AND MOBIL'S JOINT VENTURE

The formation of a joint venture between BP and Mobil which combine their European activities in the refining and marketing of fuels and lubricants has been approved by the European Commission.

BP and Mobil will combine their fuels and lubricants businesses throughout Europe by means of partnerships in each national jurisdiction.

The equity stakes in the partnerships will be different for fuels and lubricants since for fuels, BP will hold 70% and Mobil 30%, whilst for lubricants Mobil will hold 51% and BP 49%.

The fuels business as a whole will be operated by BP whilst the lubricants business will be operated by Mobil and both operators will be under the control of a jointly controlled Supervisory Committee.

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