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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2001-08-27
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, August 27, 2001
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PASOK'S EXECUTIVE OFFICE MEETS AT NOON
[02] LIVANELI AND FARANTOURI SING FOR BALKAN BROTHERHOOD
[03] 1 IN 3 UNIVERSITY STUDENTS DROPS OUT
[04] CHRISTODOULAKIS: GOVERNMENT WILL SUPPORT SPECIFIC SOCIAL
GROUPS
[05] ZULFI LIVANELI STATEMENTS TO THE MPA
[06] WORLD CHAMPION FOR A THIRD TIME
[07] INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INCREASED BY 1.12% IN THE FIRST FIVE
MONTHS OF 2001
[08] NIKOS KAKLAMANAKIS IS THE WORLD CHAMPION IN THE MISTRAL
CATEGORY
[09] SIGNIFICANT GAINS IN THE ASE
[10] REPPAS: THE COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES IS DIVISIVE
[11] KARAMANLIS CALLS FOR LEGISLATIVE REGULATION ON THE ID CARDS
[12] THE NUMBER OF SIGNATURES WILL BE ANNOUNCED TOMORROW
[13] REPPAS: NATO'S MISSION IN FYROM HAS A PEACEFUL CHARACTER
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[14] THE ENTHRONING OF THE JERUSALEM PATRIARCH
[15] MILO: RELATIONS WITH GREECE ARE OF STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE FOR
ALBANIA
[16] TURKEY: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PASOK'S EXECUTIVE OFFICE MEETS AT NOON
The first session of PASOK's Executive Office after the
summer holidays, will be conducted today at 12:30, presided over
by Prime Minister Simitis. The E.C. will discuss preparations for
the Central Committee's conference on August 31, Kostas Simitis'
visit to Thessaloniki for the 66th TIF, PASOK's course towards its
congress, as well as current political issues.
[02] LIVANELI AND FARANTOURI SING FOR BALKAN BROTHERHOOD
The voices of Maria Farantouri and Zulfi Livaneli were joined
once again in Thsessaloniki last night, to send a message of Greek-
Turkish friendship to the large crowd that had completely filled
Aristotelous square, in order to attend the concert, which was the
official opening of the "Balkan Square" events in Greece,
organized by the Municipality of Neapoli.
Maria Farantouri and Zulfi Livaneli, in their second concert
together, after one in 1982 in Palais des Sports, performed well
known songs by Mikis Theodorakis and Zulfi Livaneli, while the
concert began with some of Livaneli's songs.
In his speech before the concert, the Mayor of Neapoli,
Grigoris Hatzisavvas, pointed out that it sent a message of peace,
brotherhood, and cooperation between Balkan people, in times when,
unfortunately, they are in the spotlight because religious and
national differences cause confrontations. It should be noted that
for the next organization of the "Balkan Square", Mr. Hatzisavvas
and the Mayor of Kousantasi, Turkey, Fouat Akdogan, are organizing
a concert in Kousantasi.
The Ministers of Culture of Albania and Bosnia -Herzegovina,
the mayors of Kousantasi, Pantsevo and Prigientor, spokespersons
of the Ministries of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, consuls of
all Balkan countries, the President of the Anadolu Press Agency as
well as young spokespersons of countries participating in the
Balkan Square, reached the concert area, after an impressive
torchlight procession for peace.
It is noted that present at the event were the Minister of
Culture, Evaggelos Venizelos, whom held a reception before the
concert for the Balkan Officials, the Minister of Macedonia-
Thrace, Giorgos Paschalidis, the Mayor of Thessaloniki, Vassilis
Papageorgopoulos, Thessaloniki MPs for PASOK Giannis Magriotis and
Haris Kastanidis, Thessaloniki MP for New Democracy, Giorgos
Orfanos, and Thessaloniki MP for the Coalition of the Left,
Asimina Xyrotiri.
Awards for Greek Turkish friendship were given by the MPA and
the Anadolu Press Agency.
Before the beginning of the concert, the awards instituted by
the Macedonian Press Agency and the Anadolu Press Agency for Greek-
Turkish Friendship, in an attempt to demolish the walls between
the two people, were presented. The awards are to be presented
every year, and the first to receive the honor were Maria
Farantouri and Zulfi Livaneli. The distinguished composer, Mikis
Theodorakis, was also awarded, but was unable to attend and will
receive his award in a future event. Honorary plaques were
presented to the Mayor of Neapoli, Grigori Hatzisavva, and the
mayor of Kousantasi, Fouat Aktogan. Awards were presented to Turks
by the President of the Macedonian Press Agency, Paraskevas
Paraskevopoulos, and to Greeks by the General Director of the
Anadolu Press Agency, Mehmet Giouler.
The Mayor of Neapoli honored Zulfi Livaneliand the Mayor of
Kousantasi, Fouat Akntogan, while during the concert he announced
that Mikis Theodorakis had been declared honorary citizen of the
Municipality of Neapoli.
[03] 1 IN 3 UNIVERSITY STUDENTS DROPS OUT
One in three university students in Higher or Technical
Schools, drops out of his studies, according to information given
by the Statistical Service of the Ministry of Education. As an
article in "Ta Nea" newspaper reveals, the constantly rising
unemployment in University Graduates as well as the uncertain
employment future, are the most significant factors leading
University students to dropping out of their studies.
When examining the number of students admitted to Higher and
Technical Schools, and the number of graduates, it is discerned
that about 4.000 students drop out completely. If the average of
admitted students for the 1995-97 period was 50.000, in the 1999-
2001 period, the number of graduates was 34.000. At the same time,
while in 1987-1991 the number of students admitted was 43.000, the
number of graduates during the 1991-1995 period, was no more than
28.000
At the same time, only 1 in 2 students -about 142.000
students- can be characterized as "active", meaning that he
attends semesters regularly, while another 143.000 students are
"non-active", as they are beyond the normal time limit in which a
student should complete his studies, whether that student has
delayed his graduation or has completely dropped out of his
studies.
[04] CHRISTODOULAKIS: GOVERNMENT WILL SUPPORT SPECIFIC SOCIAL
GROUPS
The support of certain social groups with generous sums, so
that a there is a substantial possibility of change in their
lives, is considered more important by the Minister of
Development, Nikos Chrostodoulakis, than small raises in
allowances, as he stated today i n an interview with the "Ta
Nea" newspaper.
"We cannot have social policy by giving out breadcrumbs to
many, without standards", noted the Minister of Development and
underlined that the support of certain social groups should be
achieved without "cutting down the EMU tree" which supports social
policy.
The Minister of Development, supports the continuation of
privatizations and the promotion of new structural changes, such
as the creation of a large wave of business mergers.
Also, Mr. Christodoulakis pointed out that the PASOK congress
will agree on the right analogy between developmental and social
policy.
[05] ZULFI LIVANELI STATEMENTS TO THE MPA
After the great success of the concert for Greek-Turkish
friendship and Balkan brotherhood that took place last night in
Aristotelous Square, Thessaloniki, the Turkish artist, Zulfi
Livaneli, stated to the MPA that he and Maria Farantouri are
thinking of recording a new album.
Furthermore, he expressed great contentment that Greek
artists such as Giorgos Dalaras and Alkistis Protopsalti perform
his songs, while he stated he was happy to be back in
Thessaloniki, 19 years after the last concert he had with Maria
Farantouri in the "Palais des Sports".
He stressed, that he strongly supports Greek-Turkish
friendship with his long cooperation with Maria Farantouri and
added that the message of the concert in Aristotelous Square is
the fraternization of Balkan people.
[06] WORLD CHAMPION FOR A THIRD TIME
Nikos Kaklamanakis found himself at the top of the world once
more this morning, after the penultimate race of the World
Windsurfing Championship Mistral, which was held in the sea track
of Varkiza. In fact, the Greek champion and world championship
title holder didn't even have to go to the trouble of going to the
last race, since he has already gained first place with a great
difference between himself and the Polish Premek Miarzinski and
the French Fabris Hassen.
[07] INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INCREASED BY 1.12% IN THE FIRST FIVE
MONTHS OF 2001
A drop of 0.5% was recorded in industrial production in the
month of May 2001 compared to the same month in 2000, according to
figures provided by the Greek National Statistics Agency.
In the first five months of 2001, the industrial production
index showed an increase of 1.12% compared to the same period last
year, while the industrial production decline that started in
March is due to the big slowdown in the Euro-zone economic
activity.
The biggest drop in the January-May period was recorded in
the office equipment and computers' production (94%), the
production of oil and coal products (10.3%) and chemical products
(5.8%).
[08] NIKOS KAKLAMANAKIS IS THE WORLD CHAMPION IN THE MISTRAL
CATEGORY
Greek wind-surf champion Nikos Kaklamanakis is at the top
place of the world in the Mistral category. He won the gold medal
in the Mistral World Championship that was held in Varkiza,
Athens.
Kaklamanakis did not bother to compete in the last race as he
had already secured the title of the champion.
[09] SIGNIFICANT GAINS IN THE ASE
Significant gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange
today. The general index rose to 1.58% at 2.787,38 points, while
the volume of transactions was notably increased compared to the
previous sessions at 154.5 million Euro or 52.64 billion drachmas.
Of the stocks trading today, 289 recorded gains and 48 had
losses, while the value of 38 stocks remained stable.
[10] REPPAS: THE COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES IS DIVISIVE
The government's stance that the issue of the state-issued
identity cards has closed after the State Council decision on the
matter, was reiterated by government spokesman Dimitris Reppas.
Mr. Reppas stated that the stance adopted by certain heads of
the Church is extreme and characterized the collection of
signatures as a divisive action.
He said that the Church-State relations cannot be monopolized
by the identity cards issue and added that a request by the
Archbishop for a meeting with the prime minister will be seen
positively.
[11] KARAMANLIS CALLS FOR LEGISLATIVE REGULATION ON THE ID CARDS
An appeal to the prime minister to accept the adoption of a
legislative regulation on the optional listing of the bearer's
religion on the state-issued identity cards, was made by right-
wing main opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas
Karamanlis.
In statements he made, Mr. Karamanlis accused the prime
minister of using false dilemmas to attack the Church, adding that
he does not hesitate to divide society.
Mr. Karamanlis stated that the government is responsible for
the identity cards issue because of its arrogant behavior and also
because it has refused a dialogue with the Church in an arbitrary
way and without a reason. Mr. Karamanlis also added that no
identity card issue was raised by the European Union.
The New Democracy leader stated that his party submitted a
proposal for a draft law which however, was rejected by the
government and expressed the stance that the legislative
regulation of the matter is the only solution.
[12] THE NUMBER OF SIGNATURES WILL BE ANNOUNCED TOMORROW
Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All of Greece will
announce tomorrow morning the exact number of signatures collected
by the Church of Greece within the framework of its campaign
calling for a referendum to be held on the optional listing of the
bearer's religion on the state-issued identity cards.
Meanwhile, the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece met today
to examine both the identity cards issue and the crisis in the
Church-State relations.
Holy Synod spokesman Metropolite Efstathios of Sparta wished
for a good development on the identity cards issue.
When asked to comment on the statements made by Archbishop
Christodoulos that were regarded as a personal attack against the
prime minister, he said that the Archbishop did not refer to the
prime minister but to the qualities a leader should have.
[13] REPPAS: NATO'S MISSION IN FYROM HAS A PEACEFUL CHARACTER
The deployment of NATO forces in FYROM, in which participate
and Greek soldiers as well, has a peaceful character stated
government spokesman Dimitris Reppas, who reminded that the
decision for their deployment was made by the alliance at the
request of FYROM president Boris Trajkovski.
Mr. Reppas expressed the Greek government's wish that all
parties will display consistency and a sense of responsibility for
the implementation of the decisions and the return of calm to the
neighboring state.
The Greek soldiers are based at FYROM's Krivolak army camp
where the weapons of the Albanian rebels will be gathered.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[14] THE ENTHRONING OF THE JERUSALEM PATRIARCH
On Saturday September 15, at 12 noon, the ceremony for the
enthronement of the Jerusalem Patriarch, Irineos, will take place
in the Church of the Resurrection.
The Patriarch has already received the royal referendum of
his acknowledgment from the Prime Minister of Jordan - King Abdala
was absent -, while in the next few days similar replies are
expected from the Israel government and the Palestinian
authorities.
According to information, the intention of being present at
the ceremony, has been expressed by the Archbishop of Athens and
all of Greece, Christodoulos, the Patriarch of Alexandria, Peter,
and heads of all Balkans Orthodox churches.
The Patriarchy is still waiting for the reply of the
Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew, and the Patriarch of Moscow and
all of Russia, Alexios.
[15] MILO: RELATIONS WITH GREECE ARE OF STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE FOR
ALBANIA
Albanian foreign minister Paskal Milo, in statements he made
to the Albanian state television in Tirana on the occasion of his
recent meeting in the northwestern Greek city of Florina with his
Balkan counterparts within the framework of the "Prespes 2001"
events, underlined that his country sees as very important its
relations with Greece.
Albania's relations with Greece were and will be of strategic
importance not because Greece is a neighboring country but because
it is an EU member and plays a significant role in the Balkans,
stated characteristically Mr. Milo.
[16] TURKEY: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
An increase in tortures and human rights violations was
recorded in Turkey in the first half of 2001 compared to the same
period in 1999 and 2000, according to a report by the Human Rights
Union that was presented by its president Hosnu Odiul.
Based on the figures included in the report, 435 people of
the 21.812 in detention, reported that they suffered torture,
while in the same period in 1999 were made 334 such reports and
263 in 2000.
Also, Mr. Odiul stated that the prosecutors have called for
prison sentences totaling 375 years in the first half of 1999, 813
years in the same period in 2000 and 3.125 years in 2001, to be
imposed on individuals accused of offenses that are related with
the freedom of expression.
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