E.O.T. to announce tendering for international ad campaign
NEWS IN DETAIL
Search continues for missing Turkish pilot
A search and rescue operation for a missing Turkish pilot whose jetfighter
crashed off the Greek island of Chios in the eastern Aegean on Tuesday has
so far proved fruitless, Defence Ministry sources said.
The sources said the search for the missing pilot were being continued by a
Greek frigate, torpedo boat and minesweeper as well as coast guard boats
and Turkish vessels, coordinated by the Greek commander.
Chief of staff sends regrets
Greek Chief of Staff Air Force General Athanasios Tzoganis today sent a
letter to his Turkish counterpart, expressing his regret at the F-16's
crash and his hope that a second missing pilot would be found.
Tzoganis added in his letter to Turkish Chief of Staff Ismail Karadayi that
he hoped yesterday's accident would be the last by the Turkish Air
Force.
Yesterday's incident was discussed by Prime Minister Costas Simitis and
Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos this morning.
Conditions for peace and security in the Aegean can only be achieved by
respect for international treaties and international rules, government
spokesman Dimitris Reppas said today, responding to questions on whether
Athens was prepared to talk to Turkey on how to avert incidents such as
yesterday's fall of a Turkish F-16 in the eastern Aegean.
The F-16 fighter plane's pilot, Osman Cicekli, returned to Turkey earlier
today after being saved by a Greek Navy helicopter yesterday when the two
pilots bailed out.
Reppas said the government regretted the accident.
He said that Athens "at the present time" was not working towards dialogue
with Turkey either on a political or military level as no such issue has
been brought up.
Athens insists in its position of a step-by-step rapprochement of the two
countries, in contrast to Turkey's desire to for an unconditional dialogue,
he added.
Asked to comment on Turkish President Suleyman Demirel's statement that
after 22 years of occupation the division of Cyprus could not be resolved,
Reppas said that the statement was indicative of Ankara's intentions and
called on the international community to take it into serious consideration
and to place pressure on Turkey.
"Greece," he added, "without ignoring the reality of the past 22 years, is
in no way inclined to legalise it. It wants to reverse it".
Pangalos: these incidents are avoidable
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos said the only way to avert
problems such as the fall of the F-16 in the Aegean yesterday was for an
end to be put to violations of Greek air space by Turkey, according to an
ANA dispatch from Helsinki.
Pangalos, who is accompanying President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos
on his official visit to Finland, said that the Greek government had
underlined the dangers created by the Turkish practice of violations.
Greece, he added, is dealing with the situation with moderation, calmness
and decisiveness.
Asked whether Ankara had made any sort of protest to Athens, Pangalos said
any such protest would be "outrageous - they violate and, at the same time,
they protest?"
President Stephanopoulos added that there had been no protest from the
Turkish side but that, in fact, Turkey had thanked the Greek government for
the rescue of the Turkish pilot.
Large-scale violations of the Athens and Nicosia Flight Information
Regions (FIR) by Turkish warplanes occurred right up to the conclusion of
joint Greek-Cypriot military exercises.
However, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas rejected claims that
violations had been "continuous" or that the exercise had been prevented
from proceeding as planned, saying press reports had overestimated the
Turkish air force's activity in the region .
"The exercise went ahead with complete success," he noted.
He added that Hellenic Air Force planes had successfully intercepted
Turkish violaters, at the same time sending the proper message to
Ankara.
National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos said the message of the joint
exercises "Nikiforos" and "Toxotis" was that the response of the Athens-
Nicosia joint defence doctrine to any foreign threat was a given, effective,
and could not be impeded by anyone.
"With the joint Greek-Cypriot exercises we acquired new experiences that
bolster both the country's defence capability and all the efforts towards
promoting the just cause of the Cypriot people," he said.
Mr. Tsohatzopoulos added that no pressures had been exercised for a
cancellation of the exercises, and that Turkish diversionary tactics had
failed.
US comment
The crash of the Turkish F-16 near Hios was apparently due to mechanical
failure, according to Washington's estimations.
In response to press questions, State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns
said that based on information the State Department received from the area,
mechanical malfunction was the probable cause of the aircraft's downing. He
said Washington's informati on was from direct communication with both
Athens and Ankara.
In addition, he praised Greece's handling of the incident, adding:
"Fortunately, the Greek armed forces rushed to rescue of the Turkish pilot,
who is now safe."
Powerful tremor rocks the Dodecanese
A powerful tremor registering 6.4 on the Richter scale was recorded at 4:11
local time today.
Seismologists in Athens and Thessaloniki said the epicentre of the quake
was 800kms south-southeast of Athens in the sea region west of Cyprus.
According to initial reports, the quake was felt as far as Greece's
Dodecanese island group.
There have been no reports of damage or injuries so far.
European Union developments,bilateral relations and prospects for
improving them were the main topics of discussion in President of the
Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos' meeting here with Finnish President Martti
Ahtisaari yesterday.
Mr. Stephanopoulos arrived in Helsinki yesterday on the first official
visit by a Greek head of state to Finland for talks dominated by the
development of European Union structure, Finnish officials said.
The Greek president is accompanied by Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos.
During his talks with Mr. Ahtisaari, the Greek president brought up the
problems in Greek-Turkish relations, stressing that in international
differences, dialogue and negotiations should prevail.
He added, however, that it was difficult to commence dialogue with Ankara,
not because Greece did not desire good relations with neighbouring
countries but because the differences were due to groundless claims by
Turkey against Greece.
Mr. Stephanopoulos was expected to report on Greece's experience with the
EU's Mediterranean programme, while his hosts will share their views on
Baltic area cooperation.
Ahtisaari emphasises need for solution to Cyprus problem
Later,during an official dinner yesterday in honour of his Greek counterpart,
Mr. Ahtisaari stressed the need for a solution to the Cyprus issue,
expressing support for a start to procedures for Cyprus' EU accession six
months after the intergovernmental conference ends.
President Ahtisaari noted that the division of the island republic has
lasted for many years, while a start to accession negotiations constitutes
an additional reason for a solution to be found to the 22-year problem.
On his part, President Stephanopoulos referred to Greek foreign policy
targets in Europe and the Balkans, and primarily to Greece's relations with
neighbouring countries with which it has differences, such as the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Turkey.
Commenting on developments in the European Union, President Stephanopoulos
said "the Europe we envision must be a Europe of citizens, development and
democracy, a Europe of justice, which must be open to people and capable of
protecting the security of its citizens and the independence of member-
states."
He said a new Europe should not constitute a closed club or remain a
privilege for the 15 nations comprising it.
The more affluent members of society will bear the main burden of
Greece's development effort, which aims at improving the position of those
economically and socially disadvantaged, Prime Minister Costas Simitis told
the inaugural session of his party's Parliamentary group yesterday.
"Those having and possessing (wealth) will mainly contribute to a strong
Greece, to social justice, the change in the country's course. They must be
those who will bolster the countryYs modernisation to everyone's benefit,"
he said in reference to prio rities in the drafting of a new 1997
budget.
The premier emphasised that consistency, reliability and effectiveness in
all options would comprise the government's doctrine, and that the
principle in its functioning would be "the elimination of the concept of
the political cost."
An international conference on "Greek Tourism and Marketing" is being
organised for October 25 by the Centre for Vocational Training of the
Association of Greek Tourist Enterprises (SETE) and the Greek Marketing
Institute (EIM).
At a press conference yesterday, SETE President Spyros Kootos and EIM
president Antonis Gortzis stressed that their joint aim was to bring to
Greece the experiences of tourist marketing of other tourist-developed
countries and to promote specific soluti ons to problems in Greek
tourism.
They said this was necessary at a time when the Greek National Tourism
Organisation (EOT) appeared to be unable to draft a long-term marketing
policy for the Greek tourist product abroad, in an effort to turn around
the fall in arrivals to Greece noted this year and last.
"The problems of Greek tourism, despite efforts made recently, continue to
be dealt with a not-very-technical orientation," Mr. Kokotas said. He asked
the government to immediately implement SETE's proposal for a five-year
marketing plan taking into acc ount country, region and tourist enterprise.
Mr. Gortzis welcomed the decision of Development Minister Vasso Papandreou
to apply as of next year a complete marketing plan for Greek tourist in
tandem with an overseas advertising campaign and said he hoped it would be
applied immediately.
EOT to announce tendering for int'l ad campaign
The Greek Tourist Organisation (EOT) is expected to proclaim international
tendering for selection of a company to undertake a comprehensive
advertising and public relations campaign for the organisation.
The contract will cover a period of one year from the time it is awarded,
without providing the possibility of extension and with a budget of six
billion drachmas.
The proclamation also contains the term that interested parties must submit
a letter of credit for 25 million drachmas and anticipates that the
contractor must be based in Athens, while in every other case it is
essential that any winning bidder has or opens an office in Athens with
staff and suitable equipment for the work to be carried out.
Interested firms can submit their proposals at EOT's offices in Athens, 2
Amerikis St., by Nov. 25 at the latest.
WEATHER
Rainy and cloudy in most parts of the country with temperatures ranging
from 16-24C in Athens and from 15-19C in Thessaloniki.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE (Buying)
U.S. dlr 237.882, Can. dlr.175.584, Australian dlr. 187.339, Pound sterling
371.226, Irish punt 381.325, Cyprus pd 510.079, French franc 46.112, Swiss
franc 190.588 Belgian franc 7.572, German mark 155.942 Finnish mark 52.104,
Dutch guilder 138.964 Danish Kr. 40.702, Swedish Kr. 36.008, Norwegian Kr.
36.615, Austrian Sh. 22.161, Italian lira (100) 15.672 Yen (100) 213.935
Spanish Peseta 1.854, Portuguese Escudo 1.543.
(M.P.)
