Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 97-08-07
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 07/08/1997 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Tsohatzopoulos slams Ankara's "partial integration" agreement
- Bagach stripped of gold medal after testing positive for ephedrine
- Athens `97 world athletics championships
- Greek train hits, kills Bulgarian soldier
- Excavations reveal major finds on Greek-Bulgarian border
- Soldiers from Peloponnesian War possibly interred at Kerameikos
- Greenpeace attacks Greece's emissions policy
- Weather
- Foreign Exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Tsohatzopoulos slams Ankara's "partial integration" agreeement
National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos today described the partial
integration agreement between Turkey and the illegal Turkish Cypriot regime
in the occupied part of Cyprus as "sheer blackmail by Ankara against the
European Union".
Tsohatzopoulos said it was part of Turkey's efforts to impede the process
for the accession of the Cyprus Republic to the EU.
"Accession however cannot be obstructed by such blackmail," he added.
The agreement, signed yesterday by Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and
a Turkish Cypriot "official", provides for an association council to work
towards the partial economic and defence integration of Turkey with the
Turkish Cypriot regime in the occupied northern part of the island.
It comes just five days before the start of a second round of UN-sponsored
talks between Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader
Rauf Denktash aimed at resolving the protracted Cyprus problem.
"This effort by Turkey illustrates its inability to adapt to the principles
of international law and the values which govern the EU, which Ankara must
accept if it wishes to come closer to Europe," Tsohatzopoulos said.
"The Greek government," he continued, "is calmly and steadfastly implementing
its policy which is based on international law, international treaties and
conventions and the decisions of international organisations which provide
a hopeful and positive framework of prospects for the Cyprus issue."
"Greece will not lose from such pyrotechnics, the other side will lose,"
Tsohatzopoulos said, referring to the integration agreement.
The Greek foreign ministry said yesterday "the fact that Turkey chose this
particular moment to sign such an agreement -- when efforts by the
international community are made towards normalising Greek-Turkish
relations on the basis of international law and conventions between
civilised countries and when U.N.-sponsored talks have begun for a Cyprus
settlement -- shows that despite its change in government it insists in
maintaining an internationally unique behaviour towards the world,
disregarding laws and rules which it signs only to transgress on them
depending on its own interests".
"This behaviour as well as the fact that Turkey is far from being a state
governed by justice and a western-type democracy, create, on the basis of
the (EU) July 15 common position and its 'Agenda 2000' report, serious
obstacles in its European orientation and in normal cooperation with it,"
the foreign ministry added.
Turkey has threatened it will unite with the occupied north of Cyprus if
the island Republic begins membership talks with the European Union. The EU
has invited Cyprus to begin accession talks early next year.
Bagach stripped of gold medal after testing positive for ephedrine
Aleksandr Bagach, the Ukrainian shot putter who took the gold Saturday in
the World Athletics Championships currently taking place in Athens with a
shot of 21.47 metres, has tested positive for the stimulant ephedrine and
will be stripped of his medal and cash prize, the International Amateur
Athletics Federation (IAAF) announced today.
John Godina of the United States, the 1995 world champion and second place
winner Saturday with 21.44 metres will now take the gold medal and the 60,
000 dollar prize purse, while third place winner with 21.24 metres, Oliver
Sven Buder of Germany will get the silver medal and C.J. Hunter of the U.S.,
who placed fourth with 20.33 metres, will get the bronze.
Bagach, 30, was suspended for two years after being found to have high
levels of the male hormone testosterone in 1989 when competing for the
former Soviet Union.
Bagach narrowly escaped with a warning this time, following the IAAF's
introduction of toned down rules passed at its Congress in Athens just
before the Championships. Under previous rules, he would have been banned
for three months. Bagach, as a second-time offender, would have faced a
lifetime ban if he had tested positive for a more serious performance-
enhancing drug such as steroids.
French 400-metres hurdle champion Paskal Maran also tested positive for
ephedrine, IAAF officials said. Maran failed to pass the qualifyng round,
finishing 6th in the firth heet with 50.82 minutes, as did Kazakhstan's
triple jumper Oxana Zelinskaya, who also failed to reach the final after
placing 15th in the Group B qualifying round with 13.39 metres.
Athens `97 world athletics championships
Yesterday's finals included some spectacular performances and unexpected
comebacks, including an admirable win by Kenyans who took all three medals
at the 3,000 steeplechase race. Cuban Jose Sotomayor reclaimed the world
men's title despite repeated injuries that destroyed his chances in Atlanta
last year, Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj came back to win the world 1,500
metres following a spill in last year's Olympics that cost him a gold, and
Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie, who had withdrawn from Atlanta's 5,000
metres with severe blisters, winning his third consecutive 10,000 metres
world title. Czech Thomas Dvorak was another surprise, winning the gold
in the decathlon despite his third place in the 1,500 metres, having
a clear lead of 96 points over the silver winner. The Athens Olympic
Cuba's Javier Sotomayor bounced back after a dreadful 1996 yesterday to
reclaim the world men's high jump title. Sotomayor took the title with a
leap of 2.37 metres then, with the gold medal already confirmed, took one
abortive attempt at 2.41. Poland's Arthur Partyka, second behind Sotomayor
four years ago, finished with the silver again (2.35), followed by
Australian Tim Forsyth (also 2.35). Greece's Lambros Papakostas, finished
sixth with 2.32, after Norway's Steinar Hoen and Britain's Dalton Grant,
who tied in fou rth/fifth place also with 2.32.
Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj confirmed his promise when he took the world 1,
500m crown from three times champion Noureddine Morceli with three minutes
35.83 seconds. Morceli, the Olympic champion and world record holder, who
was bidding to become the first man to win four successive world track
titles, finished out of the medals in fourth place behind Spaniards Fermin
Cacho and fast-finishing Reyes Estevez who overtook him just before the
finish line. Cacho, the 1992 Olympic champion, clocked 3:36.63, Estevez
3:37.26 and Morceli 3:37.37, exactly 10 seconds outside his world
record.
The race began at a pedestrian pace with the first two laps averaging 61
seconds.
Wilson Boit Kipketer won a dramatic sprint finish between three Kenyans to
seal his first major title in the world 3,000 metres steeplechase final,
upstaging world record holder Moses Kiptanuyi in the process. After
defending champion Kiptanui had led from the start, the 23-year-old
Kipketer burst past his compatriot down the home straight to win in eight
minutes 05.84 seconds. Kiptanui, who was bidding to become the first man to
win four successive world track title, took silver in 8:06.04 with Bernard
Barmasai completing a Kenyan clean sweep in exactly the same time.
Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie won his third consecutive world 10,000 metres
title with consummate ease. Gebrselassie took off with 600 metres remaining
to win in 27 minutes 24.58 seconds ahead of Kenyan Paul Tergat, the 1995
bronze medallist, with former world record holder Salah Hissou of Morocco
third in 27:28.67. The top three finished in exactly the same order in the
Olympic final in Atlanta last year.
Czech Thomas Dvorak, a bronze medallist at last year's Atlanta Olympics,
sealed his first world title with the third best decathlon performance of
all time at the world championships. After going into the final event with
a 96-point lead over Finland's Eduard Hamalainen, Dvorak came in third in
the 1,500 metres to finish with a total of 8,837. The Czech was clearly
unaware that he could make history, walking across the finish line.
Hamalainen took silver with 8,730 with Germany's Frank Busemann, who
produced a major surprise by coming from nowhere to take silver at Atlanta,
winning the bronze with 8,652. Greece's entry, Prodromos Korkizoglou, came
16th out of 34, with 7,867 points.
Medals table after the fifth day of competition at the World Athletics
Championships yesterday: United States: 3 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze Kenya: 2
gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze Germany: 2 gold, 2 bronze Cuba: 2 gold Czech
Republic: 2 gold Ukraine: 1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze Portugal: 1 gold,1
silver, South Africa: 1 gold, 1 silver Australia: 1 gold, 1 bronze Morocco:
1 gold, 1 bronze Ethiopia: 1 gold France: 1 gold Mexico: 1 gold Britain:
2 silver Russia: 1 silver, 2 bronze Spain: 1 silver, 1 bronze Canada:
1 silver Finland: 1 silver Jamaica: 1 silver Poland: 1 silver Romania:
1 silver Uganda: 1 silver Bahamas: 1 bronze Belarus: 1 bronze Greece: 1
bronze Japan: 1 bronze Lithuania: 1 bronze Switzerland: 1 bronze
Greek train hits, kills Bulgarian soldier
A train of the Greek Railways Organisation (OSE) today struck and killed a
Bulgarian soldier near the town of Koulata close to the border with
Greece.
According to initial reports, the soldier had been sleeping near the
railway line. When the train passed, he woke up startled and fell on to the
line.
OSE regional director for Macedonia-Thrace Pavlos Theodoridis told the ANA
that the train had set out from the Strymonas station for Koulata, Bulgaria
to bring back to Greece a number of goods waggons.
The two Greek drivers of the train are currently assisting the Bulgarian
authorities in their investigation at Koulata.
Excavations reveal major finds on Greek-Bulgarian border
Excavations by archaeologists working in the ruins of a neolithic
settlement near Promachonas, Serres in northern Greece have revealed parts
of walls with wooden frames, ovens, pottery and benches dating back to 5000
BC.
The excavations are being conducted jointly by Greek and Bulgarian
archaeologists, since the settlement spans the border between the two
countries.
According to the director of the Kavala Department of Classical and
Prehistoric Antiquities, the find is particularly significant since it
reveals a great deal about the cultural relations which developed between
the Aegean and the Balkan region.
Soldiers from Peloponnesian War possibly interred at Kerameikos
Archaeologists on a salvage excavation that uncovered what might be one of
the monumental series of tombs erected to honour soldiers who died during
the 5th century B.C., said that the finds may be associated with Athenians
who fought in the Peloponnesian War.
"It is possible that the monument found on Salaminos Street (near
Kerameikos) is related to those who died during the Peloponnesian War," one
of the excavators, Ch. Stoupa, said following a general announcement of the
finds on Tuesday.
Mrs. Stoupa said data pointing out to this conclusion included the
monumental aspect of the tombs discovered in July, the dates determined
from pottery found on the site and information gleaned from Thucydides'
accounts on how the first dead of the Peloponnesian War were interred.
The war, pitting the city-state of Athens and its allies against rival
Sparta, raged for most of the 5th century B.C. and brought about the
collapse of classical Greece.
Greenpeace attacks Greece's emissions policy
The international environmental organisation "Greenpeace" on Wednesday
urged a radical review of Greece's policy relating to climate change,
accusing the government of trying to exercise environmental policy "on the
backs of others".
The Greek branch of Greenpeace called a press conference yesterday on the
occasion of the meeting of officials from around the world in Bonn to
formulate a plan for reducing greenhouse gases in view of a conference on
climate change in Kyoto, Japan in December. "While supporting the taking of
measures and the signing of a binding protocol for confronting problems
associated with climate change, Greece is not only refusing to reduce
emissions of dangerous gases but on the contrary is planning to increase
them by 30 per cent by the year 2010," Stelios Psomas, an official of
Greenpeace's Greek branch charged.
The aim of the Kyoto conference will be the signing of a binding protocol
which for the first time will reduce dangerous greenhouse gases threatening
the earth's climate.
Greenpeace expressed concern about the outcome of the Kyoto conference,
charging that major financial interests were blocking efforts to fight
global warming.
"A strong lobby made up of oil, coal and natural gas companies, supported
by many governments, is exerting pressure to prevent the crucial decisions
from being taken," Mr. Psomas alleged, naming in particular the United
States, Japan, Australia and the oil-producing countries.
Although the European Union is proposing a reduction in the emissions of
certain gases by 7.5 per cent by the year 2005 and by 15 per cent by the
year 2010, Greece will increase overall emissions by 30 per cent up to the
year 2010 "with the excuse that the country has the right to develop", Mr.
Psomas asserted.
WEATHER
Fair weather is expected over most of the country, except central and
northern regions which are likely to experience rain and storms. Athens
will be sunny, with northerly winds, turning cloudy in the afternoon with
temperatures of 23 to 36 C, while Thessaloniki will be mostly cloudy and
possible showers in the afternoon, with temperatures 22-31 C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Wednesday's closing rates - buying US dlr. 294.165
Pound sterling 468.849 Cyprus pd 531.939
French franc 46.087 Swiss franc 191.125
German mark 155.547 Italian lira (100) 15.906
Yen (100) 246.119 Canadian dlr. 212.600
Australian dlr. 216.344 Irish Punt 417.583
Belgian franc 7.535 Finnish mark 52.317
Dutch guilder 138.154 Danish kr. 40.827
Swedish kr. 36.247 Norwegian kr. 37.846
Austrian sch. 22.121 Spanish peseta 1.842
Port. Escudo 1.537
(S.S.)
|
