Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 01-09-09

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

CONTENTS

[01] KARAMANLIS: ALL LIES HAVE AN END

[02] ROUSOPOULOS: PRIME MINISTER OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE

[03] GREEK LIVING ABROAD BUSINESSMEN IN CYBERSPACE

[04] FOUR GREEK TELEVISION STATIONS IN AUSTALIA

[05] HEAVY SENTENCES FOR THE TURKISH SLAVERS OF MANTOUDI

[06] KOSTAS KARAMANLIS WILL VISIT THE UNITED STATES

[07] GOLD MEDAL FOR GREECE IN THE BEACH VOLLEY EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

[08] A GREEK BANK WILL BE FOUNDED IN S. RUSSIA

[09] MIKIS THEODORAKIS: "WE DREAMERS HAVE SOWN"

[10] THE PRIME MINISTER'S PRESS CONFERENCE IN THESSALONIKI

[11] KOSTUNICA-CHRISTODOULOS MEETING TOMORROW

[01] KARAMANLIS: ALL LIES HAVE AN END

An attack against the Prime Minister, Kostas Simitis, on what he said during his customary press conference which took place today at the I.Vellidis Conference Center, was made by the President of New Democracy, Kostas Karamanlis, who said that once again he has distributed promises but he has not convinced anyone. At the same time, he said that all lies have an end and this one is approaching its end.

Mr. Karamanlis supported that the Prime Minister has once more proven the arrogance and the regimistic mentality of the government, however, nobody is deceived any longer, since the citizens will no longer stand for spurious Agreements.

[02] ROUSOPOULOS: PRIME MINISTER OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE

The Prime Minister was accused of attempting to mislead the Greek people and flagrant intervention in the independent works of justice, by the press spokesperson of New Democracy, Thodoris Roussopoulos, commenting on the attack by the Prime Minister on the former President of New Democracy, Miltiadis Evert, on the issue of DEKA.

Mr. Simitis is attempting to mislead the Greek People , since, purposely, he ignores the announcement of the Association of Judges and District Attorneys. He once more scorns in this way with the unforgettable it served them right the 1,5 million Greeks who lost a life's work on the stock market, stated Mr. Roussopoulos.

He flagrantly intervenes in the independent work of justice, acquitting DEKA in advance from any responsibility. This not only proves his regimistic point of view and his untrustworthiness. He was the one that referred anyone with any evidence to the District Attorney. Now that the wheels of justice are in motion, he slanders the judicial workers to cover for the guilty parties, he added.

The cover-up operation of the Government's responsibilities on the crime at Sofokleous is condemned, he ended.

[03] GREEK LIVING ABROAD BUSINESSMEN IN CYBERSPACE

A new electronic system of registering and searching for Greek living abroad businessmen, HELLASbiz.com, which has been online for a week, was presented to SAE at the opening of the 66th TIF. With cooperation development between Greek and Greek living abroad businesses as its main objective, SAE presented its new attempt, as well as the 1st Greek Cultural and Business Fair which will take place in Chicago on November 5 and 6.

Our target is cooperation of all Greeks living abroad, stated Deputy Foreign Secretary, Grigoris Niotis, greeting the enterprise of SAE.

The need to promote Greece even more, stressed Andreas Athens, characteristically underlining that Greece is not renowned only for its good feta, but also has its business activities, its economic course, and its culture, and all this must be done with the cooperation of all Greeks living abroad.

[04] FOUR GREEK TELEVISION STATIONS IN AUSTALIA

The exclusive transmission of the television programs of ERT, Mega Channel, Alpha and ANT1 in Australia, was procured by the Australian Communications Company TARBS.

According to the owner of the company Mike Boulos, who is Egyptian in descent, 100 million Australian Dollars have been invested in facilities in Maroussi for the transmission of the television signal from Greece, which as he characteristically said, he considers as the most stable country in Southeastern Europe.

At the same time he points out that Greeks living abroad have every reason to celebrate, as the four television channels will transmit all over Australia.

Apart from the Greek channels, TARBS has come to agreements with another 39 channels among which the Cypriot RIK and CNN, while FYROM television has already started broadcasting.

With a monthly subscription of 39 Australian Dollars, subscribers will also have access to Greek radio, as TARBS has move to an agreement with ER

[05] HEAVY SENTENCES FOR THE TURKISH SLAVERS OF MANTOUDI

10 years of incarceration and a fine of 539.200.000 drs was the sentence of the Halchida Magistrate's Court on each of the three Turkish slavers who transported 350 illegal immigrants to Mantoudi on the Imdat cargo ship on Tuesday.

These are the 39-year-old Mohammed Dermeji, captain, 34-year-old Souleiman Saritak, first mate, and 51-year-old Beli Hisli, mechanic. The last of the three had in the past been involved in the transportation of illegal immigrants to our country, as in June 1992 he had transported 29 illegal immigrants from the Turkish shores to Mytilini.

[06] KOSTAS KARAMANLIS WILL VISIT THE UNITED STATES

Right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis will be in the United States today for the inauguration tomorrow of the "Konstantinos Karamanlis" Greek and Southeastern European Studies Department in Tufts University Flecher School of Diplomacy in Boston.

It is the first university department on Greek Issues that is being created with money raised among the Greeks in Greece and the United States. The goal of its establishment is the study of the historical influence on the present political and economic developments in Greece, the relations with its neighbors and the role of the wider region in international issues.

Mr. Karamanlis will meet with Tufts University president Lawrence Bascow and will deliver a speech on The New Network of Hope in the Balkans.

[07] GOLD MEDAL FOR GREECE IN THE BEACH VOLLEY EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

The gold medal in the European Beach Volley Championship was won by he Efi Sfyri and Vasso Karadassiou yesterday, achieving the greatest distinction of Greek beach volley. The two athletes won the finals with 2-0 sets, against the Swiss Benua and Koun.

[08] A GREEK BANK WILL BE FOUNDED IN S. RUSSIA

The creation of a Greek commercial bank is in progress in the Kurban region in south Russia as the deal for its establishment is expected to be completed in a few months, according to the conclusions reached in a discussion held today by undersecretary of foreign affairs Grigoris Niotis, Russian ambassador to Athens Michael Potsarnikov and Adygheya autonomous region president Zarimov Aslan.

According to Mr. Niotis, the specific agreement will be very important given the fact that Russian president Vladimir Putin will be on a formal visit to Greece in December.

In the meeting that was held today, within the framework of Thessaloniki's 66th International Trade Fair, were also discussed ways in which the Greek businesses can become active in the region of south Russia through joint ventures.

[09] MIKIS THEODORAKIS: "WE DREAMERS HAVE SOWN"

We dreamers and fighters have sown, so that the down-to-earth and realists to reap, said the great man of Greek music, Mikis Theodorakis, in an exclusive interview with the Macedonian Press Agency, on occasion of the concerts of his works, Axion Esti and Pnevmatiko Emvatirio, which will take place on Tuesday September 11 at the Theatro Gis theater. Observing that people's souls can only be nourished and made happy dreams, especially with those that never come true.

Referring to his work, Mikis Theodorakis expressed satisfaction that his pieces, like Axion Esti and Pnevmatiko Emvatirio, which he calls pieces-symbols of his struggle for the universal conquering of the artistic, they move even the younger generations, while when making an assessment of his course through the world of art, he observes that he should have had twice as long a life to complete all the things he wanted to do in the area of Art.

Also, our great composer expressed bitter feelings, that visions such as Peace, Friendship, Cooperation with neighboring people etc., after half a century of struggles and attempts, are moving away instead of being conquered.

To the questions of the General Director of the Macedonian Press Agency, Sp. Kouzinopoulos, Mikis Theodorakis mentioned:

-Qestion: It has been 34 years from the first performance of Axion Esti and 30 years from the composing of Pnevmatiko Emvatirio. What, in your opinion are the elements that make these and other works so popular, especially to young people, who did not live through those times?

-Mikis Theodorakis: The passage from folk to learned and from popular to artistic have always been a characteristic of social superiority of one class towards another. It occurs in these days, in economically developed countries that this chasm still exists between the higher classes and the rest of the social classes, no matter what levels of life those classes have conquered.

Mr. Thodorakis continued to say that no matter what the upper classes may be willing to give the rest of the members of the social hierarchy, they would still hold back anything learned and artistic, a social wall which he wanted to tear down from the very beginning. He searched for the learned and the artistic in lyrics so that he could give everyone the chance to appreciate them, and only time and the people will tell if he has succeeded in his goals.

[10] THE PRIME MINISTER'S PRESS CONFERENCE IN THESSALONIKI

The economic development, the new social state, the strengthening of the country's international position, and the true social convergence are the main targets of the government's policy for a new era. The above were reiterated by prime minister Kostas Simitis in the press conference he gave today within the framework of Thessaloniki's 66th International Trade Fair. He said that a three-year program has been processed for the distribution of resources, adding that this program provides for more resources to be allocated to social policy than predicted in the commitments undertaken by Greece before the European Union.

On the role of Thessaloniki, he stated that here the change in Greece's international role is obvious and reminded that through the EU summit meeting in Thessaloniki in 2003 the city's international significance and prestige will be confirmed.

The prime minister reiterated that the issue of the identity cards has closed and pointed out that the government is open to a dialogue with the Church but not on that specific issue.

When asked to comment on yesterday's demonstrations in Thessaloniki, he stated that the freedom of expression has no limitations and people can demonstrate if they respect the freedom of the others. On the course of the big projects in Thessaloniki and northern Greece, he said that the local officials who are displeased, have no exact knowledge of the problems and the efforts that are being made toward their solution and stressed that each project needs many years, detailed studies and good planning before it can materialize.

The prime minister made it clear that he will be leading PASOK in the 2004 parliamentary elections and stressed that in his party's congress he will ask for a clear mandate to complete his work.

Mr. Simitis called on New Democracy parliament deputy Miltiadis Evert to reveal how he got hold of a prosecutor's office document that was addressed to the parliament president concerning the pre-election transactions of a state-run company in the Athens Stock Exchange. Mr. Simitis accused New Democracy of bringing the issue back to the spotlight having as a goal to hurt the stock market.

On the Greek-Turkish relations and the course of the efforts for the solution on the Cyprus problem, the prime minister stressed that the mandatory framework decided in Helsinki on Turkey's accession course to the EU remains untouched and underlined that the government's strategy is to force Turkey, given the fact that it wants to become an EU member, to follow a course in compliance with the rules that are in effect in the EU, implement international law and contribute to the solution of the Cyprus problem.

On the issue of the FYROM name, he stated that the government is interested in settling it and insists in this in spite of the difficulties that arise because of the situation in the neighboring country.

On the issue of the individuals that got the Greek nationality illegally, Mr. Simitis clarified that after investigations in the Greek embassy in Moscow it was established that irregularities were made and the case is now in the hands of the Greek justice. The prime minister also accused right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy of using the issue as an alibi for its defeat in the last parliamentary elections.

[11] KOSTUNICA-CHRISTODOULOS MEETING TOMORROW

Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All of Greece will meet in Belgrade tomorrow with Yugoslav president Vojslav Kostunica and Serb prime minister Zoran Djindic within the framework of his seven-day formal visit to Yugoslavia that started last Friday at the invitation of the Serb Church.

The head of the Greek Orthodox Church met on Friday with Patriarch Pavle of Serbia, while he visited churches and monasteries in Belgrade.

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