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Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 99-02-24Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN BY THE MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCYThessaloniki, February 24, 1999TITLES
NEWS IN DETAIL[01] PRIME MINISTER DEPARTS FOR BONN TOMORROWAthens, February 24 (MPA)The leaders of the European Union's member-states are to hold an informal Summit in Bonn tomorrow and Friday, where they will discuss the Kurdish issue and the Ocalan affair.Greece will be represented by Premier Kostas Simitis, Foreign Minister George Papandreou and other officials. Mr. Simitis said he would have bilateral talks with his European Union counterparts at a series of meetings to outline to them the need to enforce its related policy drawn on February 22. The Summit is essentially being held in order to discuss matters related to Agenda 2000, restructure actions, the sector of agriculture and the reassessment of funds allocation. A.F. [02] US: GREECE A FRIENDLY STATE, NO EVIDENCE OF TERRORISM SUPPORTWashington, February 24 (MPA)The U.S. Department of State has refused the proposal made by Turkey's President Suleiman Demirel that Greece be added to the list of countries which support terrorism and harbor terrorists.State Department spokesperson James Foley has stated that "the question of placing governments on the state sponsors of terrorism list is a very serious matter," adding that there is no evidence of Greece supporting terrorism. "Greece is a friendly government; it's an allied government; it's one we work with; it's a country that we support in many different fora and many different ways," he said. A.F. [03] GREECE'S MINISTER OF JUSTICE CALLS FOR FAIR TRIAL FOR OCALANAthens, February 24 (MPA)In a letter forwarded to the presidents of the European Union's Council of Ministers Otto Schilly and Ms. Gmelin- Debler (the German Interior and Justice ministers respectively), Greece's Justice Minister Evangelos Yiannopoulos called for a fair trial for Ocalan.Invoking the United Nations Human Rights proclamation, the International Treaty of Rome, the constitutions and penal legislation of countries which honor the functioning of "the democratic principle" and apply in practice the principle of a state of law, Mr. Yiannopoulos underlined the inhumane and barbaric living conditions and degradation of human personality Mr. Ocalan is being subject to. A.F. [04] GREEK FM: WE WANT TO SECURE SAFE TRANSPORT OF PKK MEMBERSAthens, February 24 (MPA)The Greek government will not make any attempt to transport the three female colleagues of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan -who have barricaded themselves at the Greek embassy in Nairobi- unless it secures their safety first.Adding that at this point the three PKK members are safe, Foreign Minister George Papandreou also stated that he intends to brief the country's political leaders on the results of the EU Foreign Ministers Summit, held on Monday, which addressed the Ocalan issue. A.F. [05] GENERAL PRICE INDEX AT ATHENS STOCK EXHANGE CLIMBS UPWARDSAthens, February 24 (MPA)The general price index at the Athens Stock Exchange has given signs of recovery after yesterday's plunge of 6.06%, measuring a 4% profit increase during the first half hour of trading.Financial analysts have said the turn around was expected after yesterday's scare. A.F. [06] TURKISH BUSINESSMEN SEVER TIES WITH GREECE OVER OCALAN ISSUEAnkara, February 24 (MPA)The Turkish-Hellenic Business Council has severed its trade ties with Greece over the support given by the Greek state to the PKK and its leader Abdullah Ocalan.The decision to cut off ties was taken yesterday during the course of the Turkish-Hellenic Business Council, which was presided over by Turkish tycoon Rahmi Koc. Trade volume between the countries had presented a significant increase by the end of 1997, when it rose to $725 million, a more than two-fold increase from 1994's $308 million. However, it dropped to $614 million during 1998. Turkey's share in Greece's overall exports currently stands at 3.26%, with imports amounting to 0.9%. The vice-chairman of the T/G Business council Sarik Tara told the Turkish daily "Milliyet" that efforts spanning a course of 14 years developed ties of friendship between the two countries, although he added that "the episodes in Athens illustrated that these efforts cannot continue. "We have canceled three meetings which we were to have imminently with the Greeks," he said, adding that Greece is interfering with Turkey's internal affairs in an inexplicable manner. A.F. [07] TURKEY'S DUE PROCESS HAS NO RELATION TO STATE OF LAWBonn, February 24 (MPA)As Turkey is being called upon by the European Court of Human Rights to clarify the conditions under which PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan was apprehended and is being held prisoner, stated Germany's Minister of the Interior Otto Schilly, who added that Turkey's due process has no relation to a state of law.By banning the presence of a defense attorney during Mr. Ocalan's interrogation, Turkey has violated European and international accords which it has signed, the German minster said. A.F. [08] OCALAN'S FOUR ATTORNEYS DENIED ACCESS TO PRISONAnkara, February 24 (MPA)The four attorneys representing PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan who traveled to Turkey yesterday in order to meet with their client, were unable to visit the island where he is being kept prisoner as members of the "Gray Wolves" organization prevented them from doing so by intimidating them.Meanwhile, Turkey's public prosecutor has brought treason charges against Mr. Ocalan, while PKK members said that he is being subject to torture in order to give a forced confession. A.F. [09] AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE REACHED OVER KOSOVORambouillet, February 24 (MPA)An "eleventh-hour" agreement in principle was reached yesterday during the Rambouillet-held talks between Serbs and the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo.The agreement grants a significant degree of autonomy to Kosovo, although it has yet to be signed by either side. Another round of negotiations is to be held on March 15. NATO's Secretary-General Javier Solana warned that the Alliance will continue to exercise military pressure upon both sides, until a finite agreement is reached. A.F. [10] UN SECURITY COUNCIL SATISFIED WITH RAMBOUILLET AGREEMENTRambouillet, February 24 (MPA)Members of the United Nations Security Council have voiced satisfaction that with the agreements reached in Rambouillet, France, a political framework for substantial autonomy for Kosovo has been set out.The accords capped two weeks of intensive efforts aimed at reaching an agreement on substantial autonomy for Kosovo, which respects the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In a press statement issued by the President of the Security Council, Ambassador Robert Fowler of Canada, members of the Security Council noted the commitment of the parties to attend a conference covering all aspects of the implementation of the Rambouillet agreements, scheduled to be held in France on 15 March. Council members encouraged the parties to work constructively to this end and underlined that it was essential for all the parties to refrain from any action which could jeopardize the achievements of the Rambouillet negotiations. A.F. [11] FATHER OF SLAIN SERB STUDENT TESTIFIES IN THESSALONIKIThessaloniki, February 24 (MPA)The father of Marco Bulatovic, the Serb 18-year-old college student who was shot by a Greek policeman while in Thessaloniki last October, is presently in town where testified before the magistrate today.Dragoslav Bulatovic, appeared at Thessaloniki's court holding a photograph of his son and filed a lengthy affidavit on the circumstances surrounding Marco's death. Marco was on a college trip to Greece and had been standing with his classmates outside a clothing store on one of Thessaloniki's busiest streets, Egnatia, when police responded to a pickpocket report. Eyewitnesses said police attempted to arrest the youths and the young man was shot in the head while trying to release himself. The distraught father, escorted by three of Marco's classmates and one of their professors who witnessed the shooting, has discounted the police officer's account that his gun went off during the arrest operation and asserts that "it was clearly murder in cold blood." A.F. [12] FYROM AMBASSADOR TO CANADA: WE'RE NOT RELATED TO ALEXANDER THE GREATToronto, February 24 (MPA)FYROM's ambassador to Canada Jordan Veselinov has given an interview to Canadian daily "Ottawa Citizen" wherein he states that confusion abounds over the identity of "Macedonians", adding that his country's Slav- Macedonians have no relation to northern Greeks of ancient times, who produced leaders such as Alexander the Great."They are a Slav people whose language is closely related to Bulgarian," he stated. Mr. Veselinov also announced the founding of a "Canadian-Macedonian Business Council" in Toronto, where over 90% of FYROM's 130,000 expatriates to Canada reside. A.F. [13] GREEK ENVIRONMENTAL INTEREST GROUPS TRAVEL TO BRUSSELSThessaloniki, February 24 (MPA)Thirty representatives of Greek environmental and ecological interest organizations are to travel to Brussels in order to be briefed on the priority granted to the related issues during the Agenda 2000 discussions.The delegation, organized by PASOK eurodeputy Anna Karamanou, is to feature the participation of "Mediterranean Network SOS", "Ecological Society of Recycling", "Citizens Union", "Federation of Environmental and Ecological Organizations", and others. The delegates are to be received by the EU's Environment Commissioner and will have a series of contacts with environmental groups headquartered in Brussels, such as Greenpeace, with whom they will discuss latest developments concerning the sector, such as the nuclear plant of Kozlodui, Turkey's Akuyu and environmental pollution in the Aegean. A.F. [14] NEW SOUTH WALES FEATURES "GREEK-AUSTRALIANS" PHOTO SHOWNew South Wales, February 24 (MPA)Over 48, 000 people have so far visited the state library of New South Wales in Australia to admire a photographic exhibition titled "Greek Australians" by Efi Alexaki and Leonard Tzanizefski. The same exhibition had also been presented in Thessaloniki during 1997, when the city reigned as the Cultural Aapital of Europe, and will go to the Immigration Museum in Melbourne in the year 2000. The exhibition presents the history of Hellenism in Australia. The two artists have also published a book with the history of the Greek community in Australia, accompanied by rare photographs. A.F. Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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