Erdogan will visit Athens next week, after accepting an invitation made by Mr. Simitis during a telephone call he made to Mr. Erdogan to congratulate him on his electoral victory.

Mr. Erdogan's statement on the Belgian model was made on Friday, prior to the Turkish elections, and was characterized as very significant by Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou, during an interview on NET. During the same interview, former President of the Cypriot Republic and negotiator for Cyprus' accession, Giorgos Vassiliou, appreciated that if Mr. Erdogan really means it, the Cyprus issue will be solved.

Mr. Papandreou stressed that Mr. Annan may present his plan within the next two weeks, and noted that while nothing is known about the plan, comments on scenarios or information will not help. The goal of the Greek government is for Cyprus to be incorpor ated to the EU, regardless of resolving the Cyprus issue, and that that is the battle he is going to fight in.

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis also supported this view, in statements after his meeting with President of the Republic Kostis Stefanopoulos this morning. He stated that Greece would not accept any solution to the Cyprus issue that is not in the best inte rest of Hellenism, and that though accession and resolving Cyprus issue are connected, one does not depend on the other.

During their meeting, Mr. Stefanopoulos' stated that Mr. Erdogan will not visit Athens as Prime Minister of Turkey, and Mr. Simitis answered that he is, nonetheless, a person in a very decisive position in the neighboring country, and that his positions on the Cyprus issue will become evident after the upcoming meeting.

The trial of the 14 foreigners, who are already in Kalamata awaiting trial, except for one who has declared health reasons, was held in April 2002, and they were sentenced to 1-3 years in prison, but were released after appealing.

holds the EU Presidency, representatives of the European Commission, and ministers of the Russian government.

Among the issues to be discussed are Russian cooperation with Europol, fighting organized crime, the EU-Russia action plan, the declaration against the trafficking of children and their sexual abuse, immigration and border management.

Mr. Chrysochoidis will also meet with his Russian counterpart, with whom they will discuss issues of mutual interest.

Mr. Chrysochoidis will then travel to Tehran for his formal visit to the country, where he will meet with the Minister of the Interior in order to discuss issues concerning the Agreement for Police Collaboration.

The big increase in the trade transactions between Greece and Turkey is underlined in the review issued by the Greek Exporters Association Center of Exports Research and Studies.

Turkey's exports to Greece increased with an average annual rate lower than 12%, when the Greek exports increased by 18%.

Turkey occupies the 19th place among Greece's trade partners. It should be noted that the overall trade (imports/exports) reached US$976 million in 2000 from US$223 million 1990.

According to the changes, the Church's proposal to replace the term "genetic material" with the term "gametes and fertilized egg" was accepted. A court decision is necessary to use the stored sperm of a dead husband. The surplus embryos that will not be used will be offered to other individuals that want to undergo artificial insemination, they will be used for research or therapeutic purposes or they will be destroyed. The homosexual couples or the unmarried women, who simply do not want to have a child

the natural way, will not be assisted to have a child through artificial insemination. An unmarried woman can undergo artificial insemination only if she has the legal consent of the man she lives with. The surrogate mother method is allowed only after a

permission is issued by a court and in the case that the woman interested in having a child and the surrogate mother are permanent residents of Greece.

The general index closed at 1.834,24 points, while the volume of transactions was satisfactory at 106.1 million Euro.

Of the stocks trading today, 114 recorded gains and 196 had losses, while the value of 65 stocks remained unchanged.

According to the source, the UN General Secretary wants to be certain of the intentions of the new Turkish government, while he also wants to be certain that Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash or another representative of the Turkish Cypriot side will negotiate the plan.

Meanwhile, Washington has undertaken to launch contacts in Ankara according to an announcement made to UN Secretary General special envoy to Cyprus Mr. Alvaro de Soto and the UN Secretary General by US State Department special coordinator in Cyprus Thoma s Weston.

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