From: tzarros@ccs.carleton.ca (Theodore Zarros) Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Sun, 24 Jul 1994 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). * Clerides: Cyprus must join EU to prevent Turkish conquest * Papoulias flies to Mostar * PASOK raps international community hypocrisy over Cyprus * Lawyers: detention of six ethnic Greeks in Albania "violation of human rights" * Greece 'dismayed' at Spain's recognition of FYROM * Pol.An wants FYROM issue before EU again * Clinton aide: president says FYROM solution should consider Greek interests * Venizelos blames Turkish PM for false allegations and "exporting domestic problems" * Tsohatzopoulos appeals for PASOK unity * Arsenis briefs President before flying to Moscow Athens News Agency Bulletin, Clerides: Cyprus must join EU to prevent Turkish conquest --------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 23/7/1994 (ANA): Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides yesterday said that once Cyprus joined the European Union (EU), Turkey would abandon its expansionist policy. The President was speaking at a meeting organised in Athens by the Unions of Athens and Cyprus Journalists and attended by Greek government spokesman, Press and Mass Media Minister Evangelos Venizelos. Mr. Clerides believes that Turkey will insist on achieving recognition of the illegal Turkish Cypriot pseudo-state, set up unilaterally in Cyprus' Turkish-occupied northern areas, and abandon any federal settlement of the Cyprus problem. The President expressed the belief that Turkey would then aim to enter into bilateral agreements with this illegal entity and subsequently launch an offensive to seize the rest of the island. Turkish troops occupy 37 percent of Cyprus' territory, ignoring numerous UN resolutions calling for their withdrawal. Mr. Venizelos told the meeting how those working in the mass media could make the Cyprus problem, an issue of international concern. "The Cyprus problem should not be dealt with nonchalantly and routinely," he said. "It should be projected in a decisive way to Greek and international public opinion." President Clerides said the Greek Cypriot side should demand from the Security Council to study in depth the procedures for promoting a Cyprus solution. He added that Cyprus should make use of the Secretary-General's assessment that there is no political will on the part of the Turkish side for a settlement, and that the presence of Turkish occupation troops in Cyprus was the reason for such lack of will. He also said he insisted on defining a national policy and convening a pan-hellenic conference to set out a long-term strategy on handling the Cyprus problem. The president said that once Cyprus joined the European Union (EU), Turkey would abandon its expansionist policy. Turkish Cypriots would lose all benefits emanating from the republic's EU accession, if Turkey were to continue occupying 37 percent of the island, he added. Reiterating his proposal for demilitarisation of Cyprus, Mr. Clerides noted that the US and Germany had indicated they would support the establishment of a special fund to help Turkish settlers leave Cyprus. Mr. Clerides proposed last year to the UN Secretary-General the disbanding of the National Guard, provided the Turkish Cypriot-armed forces followed suit and handed all weapons to the UN force in Cyprus. The withdrawal of Turkish occupation troops from the island was another condition laid down by the President in his proposal, which includes channelling of defence funds into a special account for bi-communal projects. Papoulias flies to Mostar ------------------------- Athens, 23/7/1994 (ANA): Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias, in his capacity as EU Troika member, is leaving for Mostar in Bosnia-Herzegovina today, to attend the ceremony of installing Hans Kosnic as European governor of the city. EU has assumed Mostar administration for two years, as a contribution in establishing a Croat-Muslim Federation and promoting the peace process in Bosnia. Negotiations with parties concerned were conducted during the Greek Presidency of the EU, and an agreement signed July 5. PASOK raps international community hypocrisy over Cyprus -------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 23/7/1994 (ANA): In a statement marking the 20th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the PASOK Central Committee adopted a resolution in yesterday's session, drawing attention to the hypocritical stand of the international community on the issue, which, while not short of big words regarding a moral international order, remains in practice silent on violations of international legality such as Cyprus. The resolution also says that "the Greek people and Cypriot Hellenism do not forget the crime committed jointly with the junta of the (Greek) colonels. A crime which, it goes without saying, could not have been committed without the tolerance, or at least the indirect support of the powers which should have intervened then, in order to stop the Turkish invader and restore international legality. We do not forget, and continue to believe that: The Cyprus issue is a problem of invasion and occupation of a independent member-state of the United Nations. Turkey has violated and continues to violate the elementary norms of international legality. There can be no just solution to the problem without the withdrawal of Turkish occupation forces and settlers. The only just solution of the problem is a united, indivisible and independent Cyprus, where the Cypriot people will live in peace irrespective of ethnic origin. Lawyers: detention of six ethnic Greeks in Albania "violation of human rights" ----------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 23/7/1994 (ANA): Two Greek lawyers told reporters yesterday that Albanian President Sali Berisha's government is violating the fundamental human rights of six ethnic Greeks by keeping them jailed and postponing their trial. The six, members of the ethnic Greek minority Omonia party, were arrested on April 10 and charged with "espionage, fomenting separatism and possessing weapons without a licence." If found guilty under this law, in force under Albania's late Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha, the Omonia leaders could be given the death penalty, according to Ioannis Yiatrakos and Dimitrios Paxinos, representatives of the Union of Lawyers in Athens and Piraeus sent to Albania to examine conditions under which the prisoners are held. The trial, originally set for July 16, has been postponed allegedly until further inquiries are completed. Mr. Yiatrakos and Mr. Paxinos also said the prisoners have been held in solitary confinement for two-and-a-half months in the basement of the secret police station. Only after Max van der Stoel, the human rights commissioner for the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), visited Tirana did police allow the relatives to visit the prisoners, the lawyers said. Furthermore, the arrests were made under suspicious circumstances: one defendant was arrested on a charge of owning a wooden rifle. Albanian police had intended to arrest his daughter, who is reported as missing, according to Mr. Yiatrakos and Mr. Paxinos. The lawyers said Albanian authorities acknowledge that charges against the ethnic Greeks are baseless. However, they added, the prisoners will likely not even receive adequate legal defence, since Albanian lawyers fear antagonising their government's plan of ridding the country of the ethnic Greek minority. Greece 'dismayed' at Spain's recognition of FYROM ------------------------------------------------- Athens, 23/7/1994 (ANA): Greece yesterday expressed dismay at Spain's decision to recognise Skopje as FYROM. "The Greek government is dismayed at today's (yesterday's) decision of the Spanish government to establish diplomatic relations with Skopje as FYROM," government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said. "The Spanish government follows other European Union member countries with, albeit, considerable delay," he added. "It is of essence that all the international community, including our European partners, should come to realise that Greece, within the framework of current deliberations conducted by Cyrus Vance, expects Skopje to show it does not constitute an element of instability, which determines its international conduct, based on domestic political developments," Mr. Venizelos noted. According to an AFP dispatch from Madrid, Spain yesterday formally recognised FYROM, establishing diplomatic relations with this former Yugoslav republic. Quoting government officials, the agency said the decision had been taken at a cabinet meeting. Pol.An wants FYROM issue before EU again ----------------------------------------- Athens, 23/7/1994 (ANA): Political Spring (Pol.An) party spokesman Manolis Kalamidas yesterday called on the government to refer the issue of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to the European Union again. "After losing the golden opportunity to raise the national issue at the Corfu summit, the government is continuing to be sluggish and is watching events, such as today's recognition of Skopje (FYROM), nonplussed," Mr. Kalamidas said. "We call on the government once again, and indeed after the European Court's recent decision, to refer the issue of Skopje to the European Union again," he added. Clinton aide: president says FYROM solution should consider Greek interests ----------------------------------------------------------------- Washington, 23/7/1994 (ANA/D.Dimas): George Stephanopoulos, the 33 year-old Greek American who is a top aide to US President Bill Clinton, said yesterday that Mr. Clinton "has made known his position on the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, recalling he had said any solution should take into consideration Greece's interests." "However, President Clinton also believes that this is (an issue) which must be settled and that it is in no one's interest in the region that such tension should exist," Mr. Stephanopoulos told reporters. Athens argues that the use of the name "Macedonia" by the former Yugoslav republic implies territorial claims on Greece's northern province of the same name. It demands the removal of an ancient Greek symbol from FYROM's flag and amendments to the preamble of its Constitution. Venizelos blames Turkish PM for false allegations and "exporting domestic problems" ---------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 23/7/1994 (ANA): Greece has said Turkey's continued groundless claims do not make them convincing, but only breed tension instead, following a statement by Turkish Premier Tansu Ciller at a press conference in Paris yesterday. Ms. Ciller charged that Turkish separatists are making Greece a base for attacks on Turkish diplomats. "The terrorists are using Greece as a base to prepare attacks on Turkish diplomats abroad" she told reporters. "Constant repetition of naive, unproven and slanderous claims against Greece by Turkish officials, do not make such claims convincing in any way, but only breed a climate of tension instead," government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said. "We call on the Turkish premier to stop engaging in such a blatant operation of exporting domestic political problems of Turkey." Tsohatzopoulos appeals for PASOK unity -------------------------------------- Athens, 23/7/1994 (ANA): PASOK Central Committee secretary Akis Tsohatzopoulos yesterday made an appeal for party unity, to be guaranteed by all, the Chairman, the cadres and the popular base. The unity of PASOK is threatened by certain phenomena and procedures linked to "a negotiation of roles and balances in the absence of principles", he said. Referring to the results of the recent Euroelections, Mr Tsohatzopoulos said they signalled the formal end of the period of tolerance for the PASOK government. But if the election constituted a warning for PASOK, for New Democracy it was the confirmation of the rejection of new liberalism and the right-wing policy, he added. He also presented the Executive Bureau proposals regarding the organisation and function of the organs of the Central Committee. The aim of the organisation was its elevation into "a single political and actual staff producing the directions of PASOK' s political strategy, planning, composing and co-ordinating the action of the political organisation and the citizens". The Central Committee members present endorsed, in a vote, the proposals of the Chairman and the Executive Bureau, with one blank vote. PASOK's municipal elections central committee is due to meet this morning and deal with the selection of mayoral and prefectural candidates. Mr Tsohatzopoulos said yesterday that the names of candidates in crucial, as he said, constituencies around the country are expected to be announced. Asked if surprises ought to be expected, he replied that they ought to be expected from Mr Papandreou. Mr Tsohatzopoulos will meet Coalition of the Left (Synaspismos) president Nikos Constantopoulos on Monday. It is supposed they will discuss possible collaboration of the two parties in the municipal elections. Arsenis briefs President before flying to Moscow ------------------------------------------------ Athens, 23/7/1994 (ANA): President Constantine Karamanlis met with National Defence Minister Gerasimos Arsenis yesterday to discuss latest developments in the Balkans. Mr. Arsenis told reporters he briefed the President on his recent talks with US Defence Secretary William Perry, who flew to Athens earlier this week during a whirlwind tour of Balkan states. "There is no need to be pessimistic about developments (in Bosnia), but dangers do exist," Mr. Arsenis told news media after his meeting with the President. Mr. Arsenis' trip to Russia was also discussed during the meeting. The Minister flies to Moscow tomorrow for talks with his Russian counterpart and to sign a military co-operation agreement between Greece and Russia.