Subject: ANA Bulletin, 16/08/93
From: zarros@turing.scs.carleton.ca (Theodoros Sp. Zarros)

        Athens News Agency Bulletin, August 16, 1993
        ============================================

	Athens, 16/8/1993 (ANA):   President Constantine Karamanlis and
Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis emphasised Greece's role
as a source of peace and stability in the Balkans during this
critical period for the region in separate messages on the
occasion of yesterday's celebration of Armed Forces Day. 
	"Greece, now an integral part of a united Europe and with a
firmly rooted presidential democracy, is and must remain - not
only institutionally but also in the conscience of the entire
Greek people - a source of domestic and foreign peace and
stability in our region. This is even more imperative today,
when humankind is in a dangerously turbulent period and when the
Balkans, in particular, face the threat of being drawn into the
vortex of war", the President said. "In these difficult times,
the Armed Forces are a guarantee for our territorial integrity
and the peace and prosperity of our people", Mr. Karamanlis
added.
       Speaking at an Armed Forces Day reception at the Ayios
Andreas army camp, Mr. Mitsotakis praised the Greek armed
forces, saying they secured Greece's independence and
safeguarded its borders. "Greece is at a difficult turn in its
history, surrounded by problems and dangers", he said. "Greece
is an agent for peace and stability - the only agent of peace
and stability in our turbulent region. Greece's Armed Forces
help us implement our policy which is aimed at peace - a policy
whose outcome I am increasingly optimistic about", Mr.
Mitsotakis added.
 

	Sukhumi (Georgia), 16/8/1993 (ANA - K. Christodoulou / AFP): 
One thousand ethnic Greeks left Abkhazia for Greece yesterday
aboard a ship that had delivered humanitarian aid to the region.
Greek Consul Dionis Kalamvrezis said all ethnic Greeks wishing
to leave the conflict zone would be evacuated. There are an
estimated 100,000 ethnic Greeks living in Abkhazia. Foreign
ministry officials said Friday that about 10,000 ethnic Greeks
were expected to be evacuated by sea and air. The Pontian Greeks
will be housed temporarily in camps near refugee reception
centres set up at Elassona and Olympus before being transferred
to permanent settlements in Thrace. Operation Golden Fleece, is
being co-ordinated by the foreign, national defence and merchant
marine ministries. The ethnic Greek community, 1.9 per cent of
Georgia's 5.5 million population, traces its ancestry back to
the ancient Kingdom of Pontus on the north-eastern shores of the
Black Sea.


	Athens, 16/8/1993 (ANA):   Prime Minister Constantine
Mitsotakis yesterday called on the Greek people to display
unity, cohesion and determination "in this transitional period
for humankind". "If we can do this, if we restore our confidence
in ourselves and our abilities, then it is certain that Greece
will become the epicentre of growth and prosperity for an entire
region and will be able to face its future with confidence and
optimism", he said in a speech at the Church of the Panayia
Soumela marking the Feast of the Assumption and Armed Forces Day.

	During the ceremonies, the premier presented the sacred relics
of the Four Angels and the Cross of Soumela Monastery to the
Church of the Panayia Soumela. The presentation ceremonies and
church services were attended by Culture Minister Dora
Bakoyannis, cabinet members and senior members of all Greek
political parties. The sacred relics' transfer from the
Byzantine Museum to the Panayia Soumela Foundation was approved
by the central archaeological council. They were collected by
private individuals sent to Greece following the 1922 Asia Minor
catastrophe.