From: tzarros@ccs.carleton.ca (Theodore Zarros) Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Mon, 18 Jul 1994 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). Athens News Agency Bulletin, Palestinians praise Greece as "first country to help" -------------------------------------------------------- Gaza, 18/7/1994 (ANA/M.Zarkadis): Minister of Planning and International Co-operation of the Palestinian Administration Nabil Saath yesterday praised Greece for being the first country to help financially the new Palestinian administration with a $15 million loan, granted at a very difficult moment. Greece, he said, also intended to hand over a number of military vehicles for the Palestinian police, after obtaining approval from the US, that had given them as aid to Greece. In contrast to Greece, said Mr Saath, other countries had not been very forthcoming, despite promises. The European Union, he added, intended to grant more than any other organisation of states, mainly for infrastructure projects, but to date only a small part had been disbursed. The Palestinian leadership, which is facing a very acute economic problem, is generally disappointed with the aid it has so far received from the international community, and PLO leader Yasser Arafat stressed this during his recent meeting with the foreign consuls in Jerusalem. Cyprus invasion anniversary commemorated, Arsenis underscores integrated defence concept ------------------------------------------------------------ Athens, 18/7/1994 (ANA): Defense Minister Gerasimos Arsenis laid a wreath yesterday at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, on which the name of Cyprus was engraved in remembrance of the 20-year "black" anniversary of the Turkish invasion of the island-republic. "Twenty years after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the armed forces, devoted to the Constitution and to democratic institutions, are ready to face any threat wherever it may come from," Mr. Arsenis said yesterday in a speech during the ceremony. "The strategy of a integrated defence region, including defending Hellenism both in Greece and in Cyprus, is part of this concept." Earlier, a memorial service was held at Athens Metropolitan Cathedral in honour of victims -- the thousands dead or still missing -- following the Turkish invasion in July 1974. The service was attended by Mr. Arsenis, the Cypriot ambassador to Greece Christoforos Christoforou, Athens Mayor Leonidas Kouris, the Armed Forces leadership and representatives of many organisations and groups. Northern Cyprus -- about one-third of the island-republic -- was invaded by Turkish forces in July 1974, following a coup which temporarily overthrew then-president Archbishop Makarios. More than 200,000 Greek Cypriot refugees fled south to escape atrocities by the invading forces. Turkey has remained as an occupying force on the northern part of the island-republic, establishing a pseudo-state recognised only by itself. Twenty years later, ignoring numerous United Nations resolutions condemning the act of invastion and calling for evacuation of occupying forces and a return of refugees to their homes. Turkey obstinately refuses either to withdraw its troops or allow refugees to return to their homes. Cyprus is divided by what has come to be known as the Green Line, patrolled by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus. N.D. group denied permission to see ethnic Greek defendants in Albania ----------------------------------------------------------------- Gjirokaster, 18/7/1994 (ANA/O.Betsis): A four-member delegation of the New Democracy party, including MPs Foussas, Chaitidis, Kontaxis and Markoyiannakis, met Friday with Albanian Justice Minister Koundrei Tselia and representatives of the Socialist, Social Democratic, Democratic Alliance, and Union for Human Rights parties. The delegation came to Tirana primarily to meet the six detained members of the ethnic Greek minority party of "Omonoia" who are awaiting trial on charges of espionage, but were unsuccessful. Mr Foussas described the meetings with the Albanian parties as very positive. He said that his party will shortly start a campaign for the six, both inside and outside Greece, adding that an all-party delegation of the Greek Parliament would attend their trial whenever it started. Social Democratic Party Vice-president Servet Peloumbi stated that certain steps forward had been made with regard to the state of the Greek minority, but there was still room for practical improvement in certain matters. As regards the six defendants, he said that their detention did not serve to reduce tension between the two countries. Cyprus coup, 1974 invasion, leave indelible scar ---------------------------------------------- Nicosia, 18/7/1994 (Reuter): Charita Mandoles last saw her husband, her father and other close Greek Cypriot relatives in 1974, when they were captured by Turkish troops invading Cyprus. "It's as if it happened yesterday," she said. "I still see them all lying on the ground a few yards from my home in Kyrenia." "The Turks were pointing their guns at them and I couldn't tell whether they were dead or alive. I still don't know if they are dead or alive." On both sides of the "green line" dividing Turkish-occupied north Cyprus from the Greek Cypriot south of this Mediterranean resort island, events of 20 years ago have left an indelible scar on both communities -- a legacy of missing spouses and relatives, lost and confiscated property, deep-seated hatred and despair at ever finding a solution. On July 15, 1974, a coup in Nicosia backed by right-wing dictators then ruling Greece ousted the theocratic socialist leader, Archbishop Makarios, and installed a short-lived puppet government headed by Nicos Sampson, a newspaper publisher. Five days later, after much fighting between Turkish and Greek Cypriots, Turkey, whose southern coast is just 40 miles north of Cyprus, invaded, crushed Greek Cypriot forces and occupied the north. Turkish troops remain on the island-republic to this day. Meanwhile, the Cyprus problem has defied all efforts at a settlement, setting a poor example for more recent ethnic conflicts in Bosnia, the former Soviet Union and elsewhere. The latest attempt, a proposed package of UN-backed confidence-building measures (CBMs) aimed at bringing the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities together in a limited fashion, has stalled and nothing else is imminent. The CBMs called for reopening, under UN control, the deserted resort town of Varosha, adjacent to the mediaeval northern port of Famagusta, and reopening Nicosia international airport, both unused since the Turkish invasion. The proposals afforded maximum economic advantages to both sides with a minimum of security problems and actual mixing of populations. But Turkish Cypriots were condemned by the UN for deadlock caused by their setting conditions for accepting the CBM s while the measures got only lukewarm backing in the south. "I'm a born optimist but I'm not optimistic over the CBMs," said a UN official in Nicosia. Greek Cypriots commemorated the 20th anniversary of the coup last week with wailing air raid sirens and President Glafcos Clerides called it a tragedy. The invasion anniversary on July 20 is an occasion for condemnation by Greek Cypriots. More than 200,000 Greek Cypriot refugees fled to the south during the invasion, but some remained behind in small enclaves in the north. Yiannis Vlassiou, 78, told a visitor to a coffee shop in Rizokarpaso (Dip Karpaz), the furthest village in the Karpaz panhandle, that he misses the lively society of 6,500 Greek Cypriots who used to live there, but doesn't expect them back. "There are only 260 of us now here who are old people like me. All have gone south. I have two daughters and a son, who also went south. I miss them very much," he said. "I wish that peace would come to the island and we could be reunited again... We wish for peace and a solution, and to have our families back here once again, like before," Vlassiou said. "But I think that is very difficult. God knows if I will ever again see my children."