Subject: News I, 26/07/93 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). To: macedonia@husc.harvard.edu (macedonia list.) Date: Mon, 26 Jul 93 15:02:24 EDT bulletin, 26/07/1993 ( ) ------------------------ A.N.A. Athens, 26/7/93(ANA)--President Constantine karamanlis,the man central to the return of democracy to Greece 19 years ago, Saturday hosted a reception at the President Palace to mark the fall of the military dictatorship on July 24,1974. The reception was attended by Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis and the leaders of the main opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement leader Andreas Papandreou, Coalition of the Left and Progress Maria Damanaki, Communist Party of Greece Aleka Papariga and other personalities. In a message marking the fall of the dictatorship released Friday, Mr Mitsotakis stressed that the withdrawal of Turkish occupation forces from the Republic of Cyprus continued to be a primary goal of the Greek nation. Mr Mitsotakis said that the Greek nation had paid and continued to pay a heavy price for the dictatorship--the invasion of Cyprus--''a price which Cyprus continues to pay to this day''. ''Once again we call on the international community and declare that the withdrawal of Turkish occupation forces from the territory of the Republic of Cyprus,a member of the United Nations, and the restoration of justice, liberty and human dignity in Cyprus is a primary and universal goal of the Greek nation'', Mr Mitsotakis said. ''Today, democratic Greece is the country which, as an active member of the European Community,is striving for the restoration of peace and stability in the troubled Blakans'', Mr Mitsotakis said. ''Democracy is government by dialogue, tolerance and responsibility and requires all due respect to its rules, both in letter and in spirit'', he said. In his message marking the anniversary, President Karamanlis pointed to the need for national consensus. ''Democracy as a form of government in Greece is neither threatened nor can it be threatened by anyone.However, the quesiton is not whether we will have democracy:The question is whther we will have a law-abiding and prosperous democracy or a wretched and anarchistic democracy.This will depend on the behaviour of all of us, both people and leadership''. ''I hope the atmosphere of national unanimity which prevailed on July 24,1974,will become the mainstay of our national life in overcoming the difficulties our country is facing today'', he said. ana Athens, 26/7/93(ANA)--President of India Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma arrived in Athens yesterday on a one-day unofficial visit. In the absence of President Constantine Karamanlis and Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis, he was greeted on arrival by Deputy Premier Tzannis Tzannetakis, foreign ministry officials and representatives of the Indian community in Athens . Mr Tzannetakis met with President Sharma later in the evening and exchanged views with him on bilateral and international developments. The Indian president stopped in Athens on his way home from visits to UKraine, Turkey,Hungary and Britain. ana Athens, 26/7/93(ANA)--President Constantine Karamanlis and Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis yesterday hailed the work of expatriate Greek communities on the national issue of Macedonia, in their messages to the official opening of the 6th International Conference of Panmacedonian Unions in Thessaloniki yesterday. ''The holding of this year's conference in Macedonia strengthens and confirms inviolable ties linking Greek expatriates with the motherland.it provides them with the possibility to steep themselves again in national ideals and gives them the opportunity , particularly the younger ones, its beauty and history from close up'', the president's message read. Mr Mitsotakis thanked the participans for their work on the national issue in their states. ''Macedonia is well aware how effectively you fought the battle in the front line of the panhellenic campaign to defend Macedonia. But you did not start the just struggle now. Rallying in the strong Panmacedonian Unions in the United States, Canada and Australia and elsewhere, you have been pioneers for decades, lonely pioneers in this struggle in your second fatherlands'', Mr Mitsotakis said. ana New York, 26/7/93(ANA-M.Georgiadou)--The Helsinki Watch organisation has expressed its ''profound concern'' at the ''excessive violence'' used by Albanian police against the ethnic Greek minority in Gyrokastr. In a letter to Albanian President Sali Berisha dated July 8, Jerry Laber, the director of the New York office, said the international human rights watchdog organisation was ''profoundly concerned at the excessive violence used by Albanian police officers against a peaceful gathering of Greek minority members in Gyrokastr on June 30,which injured eight persons including one which required hospitalisation''. The letter remined Mr Berisha that pursuant to the UN Code of Behaviour, police officers should respect and protect human dignity and human rights of all people. ''The Albanian government is responsible for the safety and protection of all persons, regardless of their ethnic origin'', the letter added. The letter asked the Albanian government to immediately begin an investigation of the events and publish the results of the investigation and the sanctions imposed on those responsible. ana Copenhagen, 26/7/93(Macedonian Press Agency)--Denmark's Tourism and Communications Minister Arne Melchior has urged that Denmark support Greece in the issue of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In a letter to the paper ''Berlingske Tidende'', Mr Melchior said that the creation of a state with the name 'Macedonia' can only be considered a provocation''. It is a fact, he said, that Greece's northern region is and was called Macedonia. ''There is a Minister for Macedonia-Thrace in Greece;there is a university , banks, businesses and foundation which have had the name 'Macedonia' in their titles for whole generations''. ''We must realse that it can only be a provocation if a state is created with this name in this precise region''. The provocation was made more blatant, he noted, when FYROM chose the Verginia sun as the emblem on its flag--''a symbol of particular significance and one used for centuries in Greece'', he said. Mr Melchior said that this experience as a member of the EC Council of Transport Ministers and his current membership of the Council of Communications Minister have shown him that Greece has actively and constructively participated in Community affairs. Referring to another issue which is a sore point between Denmark and Greece,'' he mentioned the Danes' continous unproven claims of Greek violations of the embargo on Yugoslavia. It is regrettable that ''gaps'' should exist in the embargo against Serbia, he said, but he stressed that businesses from a large number of companies, including Danish ones, have been accused more or less justly of violating the UN-imposed blockade. He said accusations made against Greece were due to the fact that it provides FYROM, which borders Serbia in the north, with various important products.When for a period Greece stopped exports to FYROM, it was accused of trying to starve the country's population. ana Athens, 26/7/93(ANA)--The Moslem community in Alexandroupolis received the key to a newly-built, 15-million dr mosque at a special ceremony Friday evening. Evros Prefect Athanasios Florinis handed over th ekey to the mosque, which replaces one totally destroyed by a fire in March, to the mosque's administrative committee. Foreign Undersecretary Virginia Tsouderou was presented at the ceremony. The chairman of the mosque's administrative committee, Memet Kadiroglu and the Mufti of Didymoticho, Serif Damatoglu Memet expressed their thanks to Ms Tsouderou and Mr Florinis for the ''complete and rapid'' construction of the mosque. Ms Tsouderou said she had attened the handing-over ceremony on the instructions of Prime Minsiter Constantine Mitsotakis '' in order to ascertain the quality of construction which reflects the government's interest in the Moslems of Alexandrooupolis''. An investigative committee attributed the cause of the March fire to a wood stove left burning. Construction was completed in record time with credits allocated by the Prefecture of Evros.