Subject: Athens News Agency Bulletin, March 2, 1995 Topic: ana (Apo to Ellnviko Grafeio Tupou kai Plnroforiwv, Ottawa, Canada E-Mail Address: grnewsca@sympatico.ca) CONTENTS ======== [1] Simitis announces 100 billion dr. to revitalise depressed industrial regions [2] Niotis discusses Greek-Indian economic ties with Indian counterpart [3] French Agriculture minister due for talks today [4] Papandreou, Karamanlis say their farewells [5] Vartholomeos: Ciller government indifferent to Patriarchate, minority issues [6] Parliament meets tonight for second try at electing president [7] Serbian high school students award Papandreou a peace prize [8] EU fails to agree on details of customs union agreement... again [9] Arsenis meets with Dutch counterpart [10] Joint Greek-US military exercise begins today [11] No Greek officers fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh [12] Tirana ready to patch up relations with Athens [13] Turkish police arrest Greek reporter, embassy officials say [14] Venizelos watching developments [15] Human Rights delegation says 'disappearances' the norm in Turkey [16] Avramopoulos, Kaklamanis meet on closer links between city, parliament [17] Brigitte Bardot launches salvos at Greek stance on transportation of animals [18] Former Bank of Crete commissioner indicted for breach of faith ============================================================== [1] Simitis announces 100 billion dr. to revitalise depressed industrial regions ------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 02/03/1995 (ANA): Industry, Energy and Technology Minister Costas Simitis announced yesterday that 100 billion drachmas in credits would be allocated for the revitalisation of depressed industrial areas throughout Greece. Opening a meeting on the issue in Thessaloniki, Mr. Simitis said that the credits would be allocated for projects in the processing sector. The total estimated cost of the projects which concern basic infrastructure, environmental protection and manpower, amounts to 390 billion drachmas, Mr. Simitis said, adding that some 500 works would be financed. The areas in which the projects are to be carried out are northern and central Halkidiki, the prefectures of Kilkis, Florina, Kastoria, Larissa, Serres, Thebes, Kozani, Lamia, the three prefectures of Thrace, the provinces of Patras and Egialia and the regions of Almyros and northern Evia. The programme will attempt to modernise production systems, introduce new business activity, exploit particular advantages each region has to offer and upgrade and exploit labour potential. Speaking at the same meeting, Alternate Industry, Energy and Technology Minister Christos Rokofyllos said that details would be announced in the next few days concerning a major investment at the Halkidiki mines worth 250 million dollars, which will enable Greece to produce gold. Mr. Rokofyllos described the investment as "modern" and "pioneering". Both Mr. Simitis and Mr. Rokofyllos underlined that protectionism was a thing of the past and that Greek industry was obliged to operate in conditions of stiff international competition. [2] Niotis discusses Greek-Indian economic ties with Indian counterpart ----------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 02/03/1995 (ANA): Foreign Under-Secretary Grigoris Niotis held talks with his Indian counterpart Salman Harshid yesterday on promoting economic co-operation between Greece and India. The two Under-Secretaries agreed to a meeting of the joint economic committee in Athens in June to speed up economic and trade co-operation rates. [3] French Agriculture minister due for talks today --------------------------------------------------- Athens, 02/03/1995 (ANA): French Agriculture Minister Jean Puech is due to arrive here today for talks with his Greek counterpart George Moraitis on European Union farm issues. The talks are expected to focus on 1995-96 crop prices and the revision of the common market organisation for sugar, wine, fruit and vegetables. [4] Papandreou, Karamanlis say their farewells ---------------------------------------------- Athens, 02/03/1995 (ANA): Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou yesterday paid his last courtesy call on President Constantine Karamanlis, who is due to retire after the election of his successor. Reporters present as the prime minister was greeted by the president detected a certain amount of emotion as the two men evoked memories of their interlocking political careers. The prime minister remarked that the president's expression of a strong interest in the future of the country reminded him of the first time they met in 1960, after (then-prime minister) Karamanlis had invited the present premier, an academic of renown in the US, to head the government's Centre of Planning and Economic Research. "Some have congratulated me, and some have expressed regret (over that invitation)," replied the president. "Whether for good or for bad, you were the cause of it. We had policies oriented towards totally different philosophies and mentality. We have been near many struggles in the course of time. I confess that your period of presidency has been a very fruitful one. I have acquainted myself with Karamanlis well and I must say that he has contributed significantly to stability," said the prime minister. "I have always been interested in safeguarding the peace and tranquillity of the country. And in this we succeeded," replied Mr. Karamanlis. [5] Vartholomeos: Ciller government indifferent to Patriarchate, minority issues --------------------------------------------------------------------- Istanbul, 02/03/1995 (ANA): Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos told a Turkish newspaper yesterday that the present Turkish government was particularly negative towards both the Patriarchate and the Greek minority. "Greek cemeteries are being destroyed and tombs are being desecrated," the Ecumenical Patriarch told the Sabah newspaper. "When such things happen from time to time without anyone being punished our community is demoralised, not to say that morale is already very low. All say there is no future for us here, let's leave," he said. The Ecumenical Patriarch said Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller had no intention of holding talks with the Patriarchate and when he requested a meeting with Turkey's education minister to discuss the issue of reopening the Halki Academy of Theology, he was told the minister had a heavy workload. The Halki Academy of Theology was summarily shut down by Turkish authorities in 1971 and calls both in Turkey and abroad for its reopening have been systematically ignored. He said the Patriarchate had had better relations with the previous Suleyman Demirel and Turgut Ozal leaderships. "To whom shall we report the problems of our community?" he asked. "The Patriarchate is a serious and historic institution which has been in the area for 17 centuries. Now that the importance of the religious factor is increasing, the importance of such a historical institution (as the Halki Academy) is also increasing ," he said. Vartholomeos said US President Bill Clinton and Europe's leadership were more aware of the Patriarchate's importance. [6] Parliament meets tonight for second try at electing president ----------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 02/03/1995 (ANA): The Greek Parliament will convene tonight in its second attempt to elect a new president to succeed Constantine Karamanlis, whose five-year term expires in May. As expected, Parliament failed to elect a president in its first round on February 24. Kostis Stephanopoulos, the candidate backed by the ruling socialist PASOK party and Political Spring, received 181 votes, against 109 votes for Athanasios Tsaldaris, the candidate nominated by the main opposition New Democracy party, both short of the 200 required in the first and second rounds. Parliament has three attempts to elect a President. In the first and second rounds of voting, a candidate must receive 200 votes in the 300-member House to be elected president. In the third and final round, 180 votes are needed. If a candidate fails to achieve 200 votes in the second round tonight, a third vote will take place on March 8. If parliament fails to elect a president in three attempts, it is dissolved and general elections called. [7] Serbian high school students award Papandreou a peace prize --------------------------------------------------------------- Belgrade, 02/03/1995 (ANA - M. Mouratidis): Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou is to receive a special award called a "peace passport", conferred on him by students at a Serbian high school, according to the Nasa Borba newspaper of Belgrade yesterday. The school in the Kragujevac region of central Serbia, dubbed the "School of Peace" after 40 students were executed there by the Germans during the Second World War, will award "peace passports" to personalities who have contributed to the establishment of peace. [8] EU fails to agree on details of customs union agreement... again ------------------------------------------------------------------- Brussels, 02/03/1995 (ANA - G. Daratos): European Union countries failed again yesterday to reach an agreement that would allow Greece to lift its veto on a customs union with Turkey. In order to drop its objections, Greece wants a promise of help with its textile industry to compete with Turkish imports, as well as an EU commitment for a specific date for the beginning of Cyprus membership talks. On textiles, however, the Committee of the Permanent Diplomatic Representatives of the European Union Member States (COREPER) meeting yesterday in Brussels stymied over money. Athens has dropped back from its original demand that it get 400 million ECU in aid. An EU diplomat was quoted by Reuters as saying that "Greece is prepared to accept a French presidency text that tells the European Commission to draft a proposal on textile assistance for Greece." "All they want (is to) keep a possibility open (for money), the diplomat said. "(But) a number of member states want to exclude the possibility of extra cash." On the Cyprus membership talks, EU ambassadors reiterated their reservations as to the setting of a specific date, saying the structured dialogue should not begin with Cyprus as is the case with the countries of central and eastern Europe. Cyprus is not as important (for the European Union) as are the countries of eastern and central Europe, they said. An EU diplomat, however, was quoted by Reuters as saying that the member states had generally agreed with Greek demands that membership negotiations with Cyprus begin six months after the end of the EU's review of its Maastricht treaty, and that discuss ions begin beforehand. EU foreign ministers are due to meet Turkish officials in Brussels on Monday to seal the customs union pact, but France, the current EU president, has said it will cancel the meeting unless an agreement with Greece is reached beforehand. EU ambassadors will try again to get a deal before a decision is made on the meeting, and the French presidency is set to begin a new round of consultations in a fresh effort to curb objections prior to the meeting. In the event of progress on the issue the French presidency said it would call an extraordinary COREPER meeting tomorrow. [9] Arsenis meets with Dutch counterpart ----------------------------------------- The Hague, 02/03/1995 (ANA): National Defence Minister Gerasimos Arsenis yesterday held talks with his Dutch counterpart Goris Voorhoeve on issues of bilateral interest, NATO, the Western European Union and the situation in the Balkans. Mr. Voorhoeve briefed Mr. Arsenis on Dutch proposals for the sale of new frigates to the Greek navy. Mr. Arsenis and Navy General Staff Chief Vice Admiral Ioannis Stangas attended the raising of the Greek flag on the Greek navy's new frigate Navarino, in the Netherlands yesterday. The frigate, belonging to the "Standard" type, is expected to arrive in Greece in May. The Greek navy already has three other frigates of the same type: Elli, Limnos and Aigaio. [10] Joint Greek-US military exercise begins today ------------------------------------------------- Athens, 02/03/1995 (ANA): A joint Greek-US military exercise code-named Hercules 95/1 begins today on the island of Kythira. Taking part in the small-scale two-day exercise will be commandos, helicopters, aircraft and landing craft. [11] No Greek officers fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh -------------------------------------------------- Moscow, 02/03/1995 (ANA - D. Konstantakopoulos): No Greek officer has served or is serving in the Nagorno-Karabakh forces while the only ethnic Greeks fighting in the region were residents of certain Greek villages in the Mardakert region, Nagorno authorities have said. The clarification was given to the Armenian Foreign Ministry by the authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh, which has not been recognised by the international community, according to a report in the Moscow-based newspaper Nezavishimaya Gazeta. The question was put to the Armenians by the Greek Embassy in Yerevan after reports in Turkish and Greek media claimed that one of the senior commanders in the Karabakh military was a Greek officer. [12] Tirana ready to patch up relations with Athens -------------------------------------------------- Dures, Albania 02/03/1995 (Reuter/ANA): Albanian President Sali Berisha said yesterday that Tirana was ready to patch up relations with Athens despite the killing of two Albanians on the border with Greece last month. "I express the readiness of the Albanian government to intensify co-operation with our oldest neighbour (Greece) though we consider the latest (border) incidents to be unacceptable," Mr. Berisha said at a news conference in the port city of Dures. An 18-year-old Albanian trying to cross illegally into Greece was shot dead by Greek border guards last week and another Albanian was killed on February 18 after Greek police opened fire at the border. "I appreciate the stand the Greek government took on the incidents and its will and determination... for the improvement of relations with Albania," Mr. Berisha said. "I guarantee them they will find the same goodwill in Tirana." Some 300,000 illegal Albanian immigrants live and work in Greece to help support their families struggling to survive in Europe's most impoverished state. The visit will be the first high-level meeting between Tirana and Athens since relations plummeted last year following the jailing of five ethnic Greeks convicted of spying for Greece. All have since been freed. [13] Turkish police arrest Greek reporter, embassy officials say ---------------------------------------------------------------- Istanbul, 02/03/1995 (ANA): Turkish police have detained a Greek journalist and his interpreter during an interview with officials from a human rights group in Southeast Turkey, Greek embassy officials in Ankara said yesterday. This was also confirmed by the pro-Kurdish HADEP party and the Human Rights Association (IHD). "A young journalist from the Adesmeftos Typos newspaper and his... interpreter were detained on Monday, and (are) apparently still in custody," a Greek embassy official said. He identified the journalist as Ioannis Kokkinidis, 28, and the interpreter as Michael Yirmi, a Greek citizen born in the Turkish city of Antakya. A lawyer with the IHD said that members of Turkey's anti-terrorist squad made a swoop of the organisation's offices and arrested a number of people, including the two Greeks. Up to 30 Turkish human rights activists and members from the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party were also detained in the Southeast city of Diyarbakir, the embassy official said. The Greek embassy has protested to the Turkish foreign ministry and demanded the immediate release of the pair. "We are waiting for a reply from the Turkish officials," he said. Turkish police in Diyarbakir, as well as the Immigration Office, denied both the arrest and detention of the two men. [14] Venizelos watching developments ------------------------------------ Athens, 02/03/1995 (ANA): An announcement late last night said that press minister and government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos was closely following developments in the matter and was ready to offer all assistance. "The Greek embassy in Ankara has already gone ahead with the necessary demarches regarding the arrest of the journalist and his interpreter," Mr. Venizelos said. Main opposition New Democracy party spokesman Vassilis Manginas condemned the arrest of the Greek reporter, who, he said, was arrested in the execution of his duties. [15] Human Rights delegation says 'disappearances' the norm in Turkey --------------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 02/03/1995 (ANA): An international delegation yesterday charged that "disappearances" were becoming the norm in Turkey and that the neighbouring country was operating under a "Latin American type" of parliamentary democracy. The delegation, in which Greek lawyers and representatives of the General Confederation of Workers of Greece participated, visited Ankara and Istanbul at the invitation of the Turkish human rights organisation "Platform for Freedom and Human Rights". The visit took place within the framework o f a five-day protest over the recent "disappearance" of Ismail Batseci, a student at Marmara University and trade unionist. "We are convinced that a parliamentary democracy of the Latin American type is functioning in Turkey. The secret services and security forces tolerate or even directly or indirectly co-operate with fascist para-state groups. The strategy of 'disappearances' has now become official policy of the Turkish state," delegate Dimitris Hatzipanagiotou told a press conference. Mr. Hatzipanagiotou said that 300 people had "disappeared" in 1994 alone. Council of State member and president of the Association of Greek Judiciary Officials for Democracy and Freedom George Stavropoulos called on judges in Turkey, Iraq and Iran, where large numbers of Kurds live, to contribute to help reduce the violations of human rights and implement legislation protecting their rights. [16] Avramopoulos, Kaklamanis meet on closer links between city, parliament ---------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 02/03/1995 (ANA): Athens mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos met yesterday with parliament speaker Apostolos Kaklamanis to discuss closer co-operation between the Athens municipality and Greece's parliament. "The meeting reflects a new period in relations between the Greek parliament and the country's capital," Mr. Avramopoulos told reporters after the meeting. The two men discussed the creation of a Culture Centre and a Press museum in Athens, as well as the organisation of events marking 150 years of parliamentary democracy. [17] Brigitte Bardot launches salvos at Greek stance on transportation of animals --------------------------------------------------------------------- Paris, 02/03/1995 (ANA): The Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals has called on the French people to boycott tourism to Greece and Greek products in France to protest Greece's stance on the transportation of animals for slaughter. The foundation is protesting the positions put forward by Greece at the most recent Council of Farm Ministers meeting in Brussels on January 23-24. The foundation, together with other animal rights organisations, is campaigning to ensure that animals transported for slaughter are rested, fed and watered every eight hours. Ms Bardot announced the foundation's boycott decision in a letter to Agriculture Minister George Moraitis, dated February 27. "Greece, along with Spain, Italy and Portugal, are known for their indifference to the suffering of thousands of animals transported every year in scandalous and inhumane conditions," Ms Bardot wrote to Mr. Moraitis. "Since you tolerate this shameful form of animal transportation, I ask you please Mr. Minister to accompany the animals and benefit from the journey with these distances which you consider to be normal," Ms Bardot said. Ms Bardot called on Mr. Moraitis to change Greece's positions at the forthcoming meeting of EU farm ministers on March 27-28 and said she would personally undertake to brief all the other organisations which are campaigning against Greece's stance. [18] Former Bank of Crete commissioner indicted for breach of faith ------------------------------------------------------------------ Athens, 02/03/1995 (ANA): A public prosecutor yesterday indicted recently-replaced Bank of Crete commissioner Costas Kalyvianakis for continued breach of faith in the exercise of his duties and instructed an assistant prosecutor to carry out a preliminary investigation. Meanwhile, the Bank of Greece has installed a new commissioner and a team of auditors, in view of the planned rehabilitation of the bank. In reply to charges by Mr. Kalyvianakis that previous commissioners and the Bank of Greece as a supervising body were responsible for incurring 43 billion drachmas of bad debts between 1989 and 1993, a Bank of Greece statement yesterday said that the same report to which Mr. Kalyvianakis refers states that a larger part of the debt was incurred before 1989, during the infamous Koskotas era, and that over half of the outstanding debts was covered by existing collateral.