Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 99-10-04
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, October 4, 1999
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] BUS FULL OF PAOK FANS COLLIDES WITH TRUCK,
SEVEN DEAD
[02] GREEK TEAM WINS GOLD IN RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS
CHAMPIONSHIP
[03] JAPANESE BUSINESS DELEGATION ARRIVES IN
THRACE TODAY
[04] TRAFFIC AT THESSALONIKI'S "MACEDONIA"
AIRPORT UP BY 16.56%
[05] STRONG AFTERSHOCK SHAKES ATHENS, MEASURES
4.1 ON RICHTER
[06] INJURED PASSENGERS OF PAOK BUS NOT IN
DANGER, 7 OTHERS DEAD
[07] POLICE CHASE TRUCK FULL OF ALIENS, VEHICLE
UPSETS IN FLAMES
[08] A NEW CHAPTER OPENS IN GREEK-TURKISH
BUSINESS TIES
[09] GRIEF FOR THE DEATH OF PAOK FANS
[10] GIORGOS TOURSOUNIDIS: TODAY IS A BLACK DAY
FOR PAOK
[11] A RETIRED TEACHER INFECTED WITH AIDS HAS
SUED TWO HOSPITALS ASKING FOR 500 MILLION
DRACHMAS AS COMPENSATION
[12] OPINION POLLS ON THE RE-ELECTION OF
PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS AND EARLY ELECTIONS
[13] IMMIGRATION PERMITS OFFERED BY THE UNITED
STATES
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[14] GERMAN CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER CONDUCTS VISIT
TO ATHENS
[15] GREEK FM IN ISTANBUL, WILL MEET WITH
TURKISH COUNTERPART
[16] GREEK FM ADDRESSES TAXIM INTELLECTUALS CLUB
IN ISTANBUL
[17] SERB OPPOSITION LEADER: CAR ACCIDENT WAS
ATTEMPT ON MY LIFE
[18] GREECE, ALBANIA COOPERATE IN COMBATING
WHITE COLLAR CRIME
[19] VARTHOLOMEOS-PAPANDREOU MEETING
[20] A GREEK UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR WILL OPEN THE
NEW ACADEMIC YEAR IN ANKARA'S POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL
[21] MOVING GESTURE BY A GREEK-AMERICAN TOWARD
TURKISH PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT
[22] LE FIGARO: GREECE IS THE CRADLE OF EUROPE
[23] PAPANDREOU: THE RAPPROCHEMENT OF GREECE AND
TURKEY IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE
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NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] BUS FULL OF PAOK FANS COLLIDES WITH TRUCK,
SEVEN DEAD
A bus full of Thessaloniki's PAOK fans who
had travelled to Athens to see their home team
play against Panathinaikos collided during the
early morning hours today with a truck on the
national highway.
Seven of the 75 passengers were killed in
the collision that occurred at 4:50 a.m., while
at least thirty have suffered injuries of
varying degrees. Four individuals remain trapped
inside the bus that fell into a ten-meter ditch
after the head-on impact. Rescue efforts are
presently underway. Traffic at the highway's
Tempi section has been interrupted, with cars
being re-routed to alternative roads.
[02] GREEK TEAM WINS GOLD IN RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS
CHAMPIONSHIP
The Greek team won two gold medals during
the group exercise at the World Rhythmic
Gymnastics Championships in Osaka, Japan
yesterday.
Greece also won a silver medal on
Saturday.
[03] JAPANESE BUSINESS DELEGATION ARRIVES IN
THRACE TODAY
A delegation of Japanese businessmen is to
visit Thrace, in Northern Greece, today, in
order to look into the opportunities for
economic and trade liaisons with local ventures.
The Japanese guests, comprising officials
from the embassy of Japan and their country's
Foreign Trade Organization, are visiting Thrace
upon the invitation of the Rodopi-Evros local
administration, the Bureaus of Industrial Change
and the European Information Center.
During their two-day stay, the visitors
will become acquainted with the region's
economic profile and the investment
opportunities.
The event will also feature the
participation of officials from the Northern
Greece Industries Association and the "Hermes"
European program for strengthening ties between
the European Union and Japan.
[04] TRAFFIC AT THESSALONIKI'S "MACEDONIA"
AIRPORT UP BY 16.56%
More than two million passengers were
transported through Thessaloniki's Macedonia
Airport between January and August 1999,
according to the Civil Aviation Agency.
The increase of 16.56% is attributed to the
heightened mobility that resulted from the
Kosovo crisis and the presence of NATO troops in
the region, a large percentage of whom travelled
via the "Macedonia" airport.
Specifically, 151,000 passengers travelled
through Thessaloniki's airport in January, with
traffic in February being 131,000, March
171,000, April 240,000, May 264,000, June
328,000, July 418,000 and August 450,000.
[05] STRONG AFTERSHOCK SHAKES ATHENS, MEASURES
4.1 ON RICHTER
A strong aftershock registering 4.1 points
on the Richter scale occurred at 8:03 last night
in Athens, with the epicenter being located in
the same site as that of September 7's
devastating earthquake, namely Parnitha.
According to the Thessaloniki Aristotle
University's Geophysics Laboratory, the tremor
was a normal aftershock.
[06] INJURED PASSENGERS OF PAOK BUS NOT IN
DANGER, 7 OTHERS DEAD
A bus full of Thessaloniki's PAOK fans who
had travelled to Athens to see their home team
play against Panathinaikos collided during the
early morning hours today with a truck on the
national highway, killing seven persons on board
and injuring 36 others.
According to the chairman of the Larisa
hospital, three of the injured passengers have
undergone surgery, while the other 33 have
suffered minor injuries.
[07] POLICE CHASE TRUCK FULL OF ALIENS, VEHICLE
UPSETS IN FLAMES
A dozen or more police cars chased a truck
full of illegal aliens throughout the Kavala-
Thessaloniki section of the national highway
this morning, leading the frenzied pursuit
through residential areas and into the freeway
where the vehicle overturned and became engulfed
in flames, injuring at least ten of the
passengers hidden on the truck's bed.
According to early reports, the driver,
transporting at least 45 illegal immigrants,
refused to comply with the highway patrol's
call for stop and instead sped away, running
through the road blocks set up by police all the
way through to Thessaloniki.
The truck came to a stop after bouncing on
a lane of parked cars at the freeway's
intersection with Asvestohori, where it
overturned and burst into flames.
The injured passengers have been
transported to a Thessaloniki hospital.
[08] A NEW CHAPTER OPENS IN GREEK-TURKISH
BUSINESS TIES
A new wind is blowing in Greek-Turkish
business ties, fuelled by Greece's stance during
the deadly quake that devastated northwestern
turkey on August 17 and which apparently abated
the negative climate created on the aftermath of
the Ocalan affair.
Although a number of naysayers are warning
the favorable climate is merely temporary,
signficant improvements have already taken
place.
Representatives from Greece's and Turkey's
business sector will re-establish contact that
was interrupted last February by the Turkish
side in protest to Greece's stance on the Ocalan
affair.
The Turkish-Greek Business Council's
new president Sarik Tara sent a letter to the
president of the Greek-Turkish Business Council,
Panayotis Koutsikos, saying that his group was
ready to undertake any activity that would
contribute to the growth of constructive
dialogue between the two countries.
Greece's Economic and Trade Affairs attache
Rallou Papazoglou stated that the number of
requests filed by Turkish entrepreneurs for
cooperation with their Greek counterparts have
recently become manifold.
Turkey could indeed become a significant
source of customers for Greece, in spite of the
fact that Greek exports to the neighboring
country followed a downward trend last year,
subverting 1997's significant increases.
Specifically, the volume of Greek exports to
Turkey amount to USD319.7 million in 1998,
whereas in 1997 the figure had risen to USD430.1
million.
At the same time, the value of "Made in
Turkey" goods that were imported to Greece last
year rose to USD369,1 million, marking a
significant increase from 1997's USD 298,7
million.
[09] GRIEF FOR THE DEATH OF PAOK FANS
The tragic death of the young PAOK fans,
who were killed when their bus collided with a
truck and plunged into a ravine in the region of
Tempi, has caused deep grief.
The names of the dead are Dimitris
Andreadakis 25, Charalambos Zapanidis 20,
Anastasios Themelis 19, Christina Tziova 18,
Kiriakos Lazaridis 17, Giorgos Ganatsios 22 and
Asterios Axiotis 68, who was the driver of the
truck. Seriously injured are Giorgos Karabelas,
Giorgos Dinoudis and Yiannis Tobousis. The
condition of the rest of the injured is not
serious.
According to Larisa police director Mr.
Stamatiou, the driver of the bus Konstantinos
Manolas had given the wheel to the his 19yearold
nephew Yiannis Tobousis who did not have
professional driver's license.
[10] GIORGOS TOURSOUNIDIS: TODAY IS A BLACK DAY
FOR PAOK
The family of PAOK was shocked from the
death of the football team's young fans. PAOK
president Giorgos Batatoudis expressed deep
grief and stressed that no one will forget them.
The team leader Giorgos Toursounidis said
that this is a black day in the history of PAOK
and stated that the team's players will visit
the PAOK fan club in the region of Kordelio,
outside Thessaloniki, as well as, the families
of the victims.
Meanwhile, the football club of PAOK
receives condolences from football fans from all
over Greece and abroad and from football
executives. Many PAOK fans have gathered outside
the football field in Toumba, Thessaloniki
hoping that they will learn more details on the
tragic accident and those killed.
[11] A RETIRED TEACHER INFECTED WITH AIDS HAS
SUED TWO HOSPITALS ASKING FOR 500 MILLION
DRACHMAS AS COMPENSATION
A retired teacher, who was infected with
the AIDS virus from a blood transfusion, has
sued two public hospitals in Athens asking for
500 million drachmas as compensation. The
lawsuit of the elderly woman was revealed by the
Athens newspaper "TA NEA".
The woman was infected ten months ago in
the Popular Hospital of Athens from the same
blood that infected a infant in the maternity
hospital "Elena". According to the lawsuit, the
infected blood came from a homosexual donor. As
it was made known, part of the infected blood
had been given to a third patient, a woman who
was suffering from cancer and died a few days
later in the hospital.
The two hospitals mention that total safety
is not feasible in a blood transfusion as there
is a period during which the AIDS infected blood
donor has not yet developed the AIDS antibodies
and therefore, the virus can not be detected in
the blood.
[12] OPINION POLLS ON THE RE-ELECTION OF
PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS AND EARLY ELECTIONS
According to an opinion poll by V.PRC,
78.8% of those polled are in favor of the re-
election of Kostis Stephanopoulos to the Greek
presidency, while 47% want the president to be
elected by the present parliament. Based on the
opinion poll results published in the Athens
newspaper "TA NEA", in favor of the re-election
is 91.8% of those who declare themselves to be
governing socialist party of PASOK followers and
70.8% of the right-wing main opposition party of
New Democracy faithful.
Another opinion poll conducted by the
"Opinion" polling company and published in the
Athens newspaper "Eleftherotipia", shows that
56% of those polled believe that Kostis
Stephanopoulos is the most fit for the
presidency. Athens mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos
gets 16.1%, Konstantinos Mitsotakis 10.4%,
Charilaos Florakis 3.4%, Apostolos Kaklamanis
3.1%, Mikis Theodorakis 2.5%, Ioannis
Varvitsiotis 1.5% and Leonidas Kirkos 0.9%.
Also, 66.2% want the parliamentary
elections to be held after the end of the
current four-year term, while 26.4% are in favor
of early elections.
The opinion polls include information on
the vote intent among the stock market
investors. Among the investors, PASOK is leading
with 38.8% followed by New Democracy 27.5%,
Democratic Social Movement 6.9%, the Communist
Party 4%, Coalition of the Left 1.4%, the
Liberals 1.1% and Political Spring party 0.7%.
[13] IMMIGRATION PERMITS OFFERED BY THE UNITED
STATES
The US embassy to Athens announced that
starting today and until November 3 visa
applications will be accepted submitted by those
who want to participate in the immigration
diversity program which offers 55.000 visas each
year to citizens coming from different countries
from all over the world and their recipients
will be chosen by lot. The program includes all
the European countries except Poland and
Britain.
Those interested should have a high-school
degree or a similar diploma or work experience
in a subject that needs at least two years of
studies or two-year training. There is no
application form nor a fee for the participation
in the program and those interested must write
clearly on a piece of paper in capital letters
or type in the Latin alphabet their name, date
and place of birth as well as his or her
spouse's name, date and place of birth and their
children's, who need to be under the age of 21
and wish to go with them.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[14] GERMAN CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER CONDUCTS VISIT
TO ATHENS
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is
embarking on a two-day working visit to Athens
today, where he will meet with the President of
the Hellenic Repuiblic Kostis Stephanopoulos and
other officials.
Mr. Schroeder will have talks with Prime
Minister Costas Simitis on a wide range of
European issues while in the evening of the same
day the two leaders will attend an event
celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Greek-
German Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Simitis told a German daily that Mr.
Schroeder's visit "confirms once more the close
cooperation Greece and Germany have on all
levels and seals the friendly sentiments between
the people of the two countries.
"The two countries are united above all by
the attempt to build a united European home.
They are united by the attempt to respond to the
great challenges facing Europe, at the most
decisive point in developments, on the threshold
of 2000," he said.
He added that solidarity should provide
the basis for the seeking of effective answers
to issues of vital importance and that joint
positions and joint action should provide the
answer for the European Union on critical
matters such as foreign policy. He said he was
optimistic that a new Europe of peace,
democracy, freedom, prosperity and social
justice was being born.
"Greece and Germany have and will continue
to have a definitive contribution to winning
this wager with the future," Mr. Simitis said.
Mr. Schroeder's visit will focus primarily
on three axes:
Firstly, European policy issues including,
according to reports, promotion of institutional
reforms in the European Union - where Greece and
Germany have diverging views - and the prospect
of Greece's participation in the euro zone as of
Jan. 1, 2001.
Secondly, stabilization in the Balkans
after the Kosovo crisis through the Stability
Pact and the European prospects of countries in
the region.
Finally, Greek-Turkish relations and the
Cyprus issue, given the German chancellor's
commitment for Turkey to be granted candidate
status for EU accession at the Helsinki summit
in December.
[15] GREEK FM IN ISTANBUL, WILL MEET WITH
TURKISH COUNTERPART
Greece's Foreign Minister George Papandreou
arrived in Istanbul yesterday at the invitation
of the "Taxim Intellectuals Club" to address its
members and guests regarding the new
international environment in the region and on
prospects in Greek-Turkish relations.
Mr. Papandreou is scheduled to meet with
his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem today and
will deliver a speech at Istanbul University on
the role of the society of citizens and of the
two peoples in shaping the climate in Greek-
Turkish relations.
The Greek Foreign Minister will also meet
with Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos.
[16] GREEK FM ADDRESSES TAXIM INTELLECTUALS CLUB
IN ISTANBUL
Greece's Foreign Minister George
Papandreou, presently in Istanbul, addressed the
"Taxim Intellectuals Club" yesterday where he
stressed that Cyprus remains a key issue to
lasting good relations between Greece and
Turkey.
In his address, Mr. Papandreou urged both
sides to profit from the mood of unprecedented
warmth created by the devastating earthquakes
that struck both countries, albeit warning that
"we must avoid creating high expectations -- we
must see this as a long-term process ... But we
must keep our hopes high."
The Foreign Minister reiterated Greece's
support for Turkey's membership in the European
but added that for its candidacy to be credible,
Turkey must fulfil the political and economic
reforms demanded by the EU, such as democratic
improvements in the fields of human rights and
minority rights, he said.
Regarding Cyprus, Mr. Papandreou said that
Athens would like to see a "demilitarized ... bi-
cultural Cyprus," with exchanges of visits
between the Greek and Turkish communities of the
island.
Mr. Papandreou dedicated his speech to the
victims of the killer quakes that hit
northwestern Turkey on August 17 and Athens on
September 7. Upon his arrival yesterday, he
immediately toured quake-stricken areas.
[17] SERB OPPOSITION LEADER: CAR ACCIDENT WAS
ATTEMPT ON MY LIFE
Serbian opposition leader Vuk Draskovic
claimed to have been the victim of an
assassination attempt Sunday, after being
involved in a car crash in which four of his
team died.
As the French news agency AFP reported, Mr.
Draskovic, president of the Serbian Renewal
Movement (SPO), told Studio B television that
the car crash was an "obvious assassination
attempt".
The car in which Draskovic was travelling
swerved off the road to avoid hitting a truck.
The car in which Draskovic's security team was
travelling hit the lorry head-on, killing
everyone, except Mr. Draskovic.
[18] GREECE, ALBANIA COOPERATE IN COMBATING
WHITE COLLAR CRIME
The opportunities to cooperate in the
combat of "white collar" crime were examined by
Greek and Albanian experts during a meeting in
Gjirocaster.
According to local press reports, the
participants set the premises for establishing
cooperation, agreeing on regularly-held meetings
between the central and local authorities of
both countries.
[19] VARTHOLOMEOS-PAPANDREOU MEETING
Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou,
who is in Istanbul at the invitation of the
"Taksim Circle" club of intellectuals, met with
Ecumenical Patriarch Vatholomeos and they
discussed the issue of the re-opening of the
Theology School in Chalki.
Mr. Papandreou reiterated Greece's peace
message to Turkey and stated that there are a
number of problems between the two countries,
stressing that with patience and goodwill from
both sides there will be friendship between the
two peoples and peace will prevail in the
region.
This afternoon, Mr. Papandreou had a
meeting with his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem.
[20] A GREEK UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR WILL OPEN THE
NEW ACADEMIC YEAR IN ANKARA'S POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL
Dean committee president Spiros Kiritsis
will formally open today the new academic year
of 1999-2000 in Ankara's Middle East School of
Polytechnic.
The Greek professor participates in an
event within the framework of the Greek-Turkish
rapprochement and according to the Turkish
newspaper "Hurriyet", after the opening ceremony
the Middle East School of Polytechnic dean Suha
Sevuk will give a joint press conference with
Mr. Kiritsis.
[21] MOVING GESTURE BY A GREEK-AMERICAN TOWARD
TURKISH PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT
Greek waiter Dimitris Chrisomalis 64 years
old, was for hours in front of Waldorf Astoria
Hotel in New York waiting to see Turkish prime
minister Bulent Ecevit and give him a brief
letter and a 75dollar cheque for the earthquake
victims in Turkey.
Dimitris Chrisomalis, who works as a waiter
in the hotel where Ecevit was staying, stated to
the Turkish newspaper "Sabah" that the scenes of
the disaster caused by the earthquake he saw on
television moved him and when he learned that
the Turkish prime minister was in New York he
wanted to give him the cheque and the letter. He
said that when Ecevit saw his name written on
the cheque he realized that he was Greek and
they hugged each other. Mr. Chrisomalis stated
that this was a moment he will never forget.
[22] LE FIGARO: GREECE IS THE CRADLE OF EUROPE
Greece, the cradle of European culture,
emerges from the artifacts presented in the
European exhibition under the title "Europe in
the times of Ulysses - Gods and Heroes in the
Bronze Age" which is being held in the Grand
Palais Museum of Paris.
About 500 artifacts from the Bronze Age
that came from all over Europe, among them 90
from the museums of Thiva, Iraklion, Nafplion,
Naxos and Thira, show that Europe is a cultural
entity with common history while they remind
that the cradle of culture is Greece.
The common European culture is evident in
the exhibition, points out among others the
French newspaper "Le Figaro", stressing that the
Bronze Age took a specific form in the period of
Mycenae. The French newspaper also underlines
that Mycenae is the cradle of Greece and Greece
is the cradle of Europe.
The exhibition has already visited
Copenhagen and Bonn, while it will be in Paris
until January 9, 2000 and on February 11, 2000
it will open at the Archeological Museum of
Athens.
[23] PAPANDREOU: THE RAPPROCHEMENT OF GREECE AND
TURKEY IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE
Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou
during his informal visit to Istanbul, expressed
the view that the "unfreezing" of the Greek-
Turkish relations and the rapprochement of
Athens and Ankara is not just a nice fairy-tale
but the result of the two peoples' wish for the
strengthening of the ties between them.
Mr. Papandreou stated in his speech in the
University of Istanbul that it is time to dare
the impossible and added that certain people are
describing the recent state of the Greek-Turkish
relations as a fairy-tale. He said that the last
"Berlin Wall" should come down and that Cyprus
and all of us should be saved from this burden.
Mr. Papandreou also expressed his support to
Turkey's efforts aimed at becoming an EU member-
state, stressing that certain pre-conditions
should be met by Ankara in order to be accepted
in the European Union.
In conclusion, Mr. Papandreou stated that
there are a number of problems in the relations
of the two countries but he stressed that with
patience and goodwill from both sides friendship
will be achieved between the two peoples and
peace will prevail in the region.
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