Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-09-15

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

CONTENTS

[01] THE SEARCH CONTINUES TO LOCATE THE CHINOOK FUSELAGE

[02] THE MINISTER OF DEFENSE ON THE ATTACKS AGAINST HIM

[03] LAST GOODBYE TO THE PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA

[04] THE CHINOOK FUSELAGE WAS FOUND

[05] THE GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON THE CHINOOK AFFAIR

[06] GAINS IN THE ASE

[07] A 500% INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF TRADE VISITORS TO THESSALONIKI'S ITF

[08] BITTERNESS BY THE OUTGOING AIR FORCE GENERAL STAFF CHIEF

[01] THE SEARCH CONTINUES TO LOCATE THE CHINOOK FUSELAGE

A complex of rocks, at the bottom of the sea in a depth of 900 meters, was mistaken for the fuselage of the Chinook helicopter that crashed last Saturday killing 17 people near Mount Athos in Chalkidiki northern Greece.

The search conducted by the bathyscaphs continues but their task is difficult because of the depth of the sea and the large area they will have to cover.

The Athens chief prosecutor has ordered an urgent preliminary investigation to determine if the law was broken in the light of new evidence according to which, the tragic Chinook had mechanical problems. All Chinook helicopters in Greece remain grounded until the necessary inspections are made.

The Thessaloniki military court prosecutor ordered an in depth investigation to determine the conditions of the tragedy as soon as possible.

[02] THE MINISTER OF DEFENSE ON THE ATTACKS AGAINST HIM

Minister of Defense Spilios Spiliotopoulos, in an interview with the Athens television station ANT1, attributed the attacks launched against him to the investigation on the military supplies he has ordered.

Mr. Spiliotopoulos spoke of irresponsibility and hypocrisy on behalf of the main opposition party of PASOK. He said that he is ready to assume his own responsibilities but not the responsibilities of others, adding that if he was in office for years there is no question that he would have resigned.

Shortly afterwards, PASOK Parliament deputy Evangelos Venizelos responded that the country needed another Minister of Defense.

The deputy governor of Mount Athos in an interview with the Athens television station Alpha gave answers on the process followed in the briefing of the responsible authorities when the Chinook helicopter with 17 people on board, among them the Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, went missing last Saturday.

[03] LAST GOODBYE TO THE PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA

The body of Patriarch Petros of Alexandria and All Africa arrives in Cairo, Egypt today with honors reserved for heads of state.

The Patriarch was among the 17 people killed last Saturday when their Chinook helicopter crashed in the sea en route to the monastic community of Mount Athos in Chalkidiki northern Greece.

The funeral service will be held this afternoon at the Holy Monastery of St. Georgios in the old city of Cairo where all the Patriarchs of Alexandria are being buried.

The ceremony will be held in the presence of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All of Greece and Archbishop Anastasios of Albania, as well as Greek Foreign Minister Petros Moliviatis and Minister of Education and Religion Marietta Giannakou.

A memorial service was held in Athens this morning in the presence of the Greek state and political leadership.

[04] THE CHINOOK FUSELAGE WAS FOUND

The fuselage of the Chinook helicopter that crashed last Saturday in a sea region of Chalkidki killing 17 people, among them, the Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, has been found.

The fuselage was found at the bottom of the sea 8 miles southeast of Sithonia Peninsula in Chalkidiki northern Greece in a depth of 800 meters.

According to information, the bathyscaphes used in the search have approached the fuselage.

[05] THE GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON THE CHINOOK AFFAIR

Greek government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos stated that the likelihood of removing Minister of Defense Spilios Spiliotopoulos from his post is not being considered responding to a question by a reporter during the press briefing today.

Called to comment on information according to which, head of Civil Aviation Agency in Thessaloniki Dimitris Stamatis had briefed the Prime Minister on the Chinook helicopter crash earlier than reported, Mr. Rousopoulos cited the statements made by Mr. Stamatis himself and added that this scenario is unfounded and the product of imagination.

On the report prepared by Mount Athos deputy governor Mr. Kasmiroglou, Mr. Rousopoulos said that the writer of the report has characterized it as top secret and therefore, it can become public only if the Foreign Ministry declassifies it. He also reiterated that according to the briefing he had by the Foreign Ministry, Mr. Kasmiroglou does not refer to the chronology of events that has reached the media.

Regarding the issue of who is to blame about the confusion around the Chinook accident, Mr. Rousopoulos said that the Air Force General Staff is responsible given the fact that a part of the Air Force mechanism did not work properly.

On the problems the Empraer aircraft had, the government spokesman clarified that the stability problem during flight was restored and stressed that the investigation will expand to cover a large part of the Armed Forces material to determine it is safe to operate.

[06] GAINS IN THE ASE

Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +0.71% at 2343.80 points, while the volume of transactions was at 115,2 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 125 had gains and 127 had losses, while the value of 151 stocks remained unchanged.

[07] A 500% INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF TRADE VISITORS TO THESSALONIKI'S ITF

An impressive increase of 500% is being recorded in the number of trade visitors to Thessaloniki's 69th International Trade Fair.

HELEXPO Ltd President Aristotelis Thomopoulos said to MPA that indicative of the success of Thessaloniki's 69th ITF is that during the weekend alone a total of 22,000 people had visited the trade fair namely, 1/3 of the 60,000 tickets set as a target to be sold by the end of the exhibition.

Mr. Thomopoulos stated that a total of 1,550 trade visitors came to this year's trade fair in the first two days of its operation compared to last year when they were 330-340 corresponding to an increase of about 500%.

[08] BITTERNESS BY THE OUTGOING AIR FORCE GENERAL STAFF CHIEF

Outgoing Air Force General Staff Chief Panagiotis Papanikolaou, who resigned after the Chinook helicopter crash, was emotionally charged in the ceremony during which he handed over his post to his successor Giorgos Avlonitis. In his speech he included insinuations that clearly targeted the country's political leadership.

Mr. Papanikolaou referred, among others, to the army aircraft maintenance, the Army personnel training, the selection of the crews for the transportation of VIPs by the Army, the flight schedule of the Army helicopters, and the selection of the agency responsible for the transportation of VIPs.

Mr. Papanikolaou called on the Air Force personnel to support the new Air Force leadership and wished strength and courage to new Air Force General Staff Chief Giorgos Avlonitis.

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