Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-02-02

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Turkey-Greece-EU

[02] Greece - Egypt

[03] Athens Bourse

[04] Greece-Turkey

[05] Marbles-Australia

[06] Cyprus-Greece

[07] Metro-hooliganism

[08] Turkey - Assembly - Friendship group

[09] Students-habits

[01] Turkey-Greece-EU

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Javier Solana on Wednesday received Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem.

Following the one-hour meeting, Cem expressed his satisfaction over the way Greek-Turkish relations were progressing, while speaking on the Greek-Turkish ?Committee of Experts? and Solana�s reported initiative in bridging relations between the two countries, he said that those issues were not discussed.

?These are issues we must approach, step by step, and mainly without public discussions. I informed Mr. Solana of my visit to Athens tomorrow and the contacts I will have with the Greek leadership,? he said.

[02] Greece - Egypt

Greek armed forces chief Gen. Manousos Paragioudakis is to visit Egypt between February 4 and 9, at the invitation of counterpart Lt.Gen. Magdi Hatata, it was announced on Wednesday.

[03] Athens Bourse

Equities ended higher on the Athens Stock Exchange on Wednesday with a buying spree early and late in trade punctuated by a round of profit-taking.

The general share index held comfortably above the 5,200 level to end at 5,209.24 points, up 1.31 percent, towards the day's high of 5,242.62.

Turnover rose sharply to 381.48 billion drachmas, buoyed by block trading of more than 30 million shares in Hellenic Petroleum worth 152 billion drachmas.

[04] Greece-Turkey

The European Union summit in Helsinki and Turkey's prospective membership of the Union has paved the way for better relations between Greece and Turkey and has created the prospects for a resolution of the long-standing Cyprus issue, Greece's foreign and defence ministers said on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister George Papandreou and Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos briefed the parliamentary foreign affairs and defence committee on the stance taken by the Greek government in recent talks between the Greek and Turkish foreign ministers as well as the new framework created in bilateral relations since the EU summit in Helsinki.

Both Tsohatzopoulos and Papandreou underlined that Athens was not about to discuss with Ankara issues related to Greece's sovereignty and stressed that bilateral issues and the Cyprus issue could be better dealt with through the prism of Turkey's accession to the European Union and its application of Community standards.

[05] Marbles-Australia

A member of a newly-formed committee to lobby Britain to return the Parthenon Marbles said on Wednesday that the issue had a moral - not legal dimension - and that the priceless 5th century BC sculptures should be brought back to Greece.

Jeff Kennett, the former premier of the Australian state of Victoria, home to one of the world's largest Greek cities, said the return of the Parthenon Marbles would be the "cultural discussion of the new millennium".

Kennett is in Greece to appear in a special Australian '60 Minutes' current affairs programme on the Parthenon Marbles.

The friezes known as the "Elgin Marbles" were removed from the Parthenon, dedicated to the ancient goddess Athena, by British diplomat Lord Elgin with permission from the local Ottoman administrators.

Speaking to reporters at a news conference on Thursday, held jointly with Culture Minister Elizabeth Papazoi, Kennett outlined the attempts he is involved with in trying to get the Marbles back.

[06] Cyprus-Greece

Greece was critical Wednesday of comments by the Turkish foreign minister that a resolution of the Cyprus division and occupation had to be preceded by recognition of the Turkish Cypriot-controlled north as a state.

"(Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail) Cem's statements... not only do not facilitate the efforts of the international community to resolve the Cypriot problem but, I would say, undermine them," Reppas said.

Cem was reported as saying there could be no resolution of the Cyprus problem without a recognition of the occupied territories of Cyprus as a separate state.

Only Turkey recognises the protectorate in the north, run by Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.

But, Reppas added, such statements should not stand as a hindrance to efforts to resolve the problem of the division and occupation of the island republic.

[07] Metro-hooliganism

Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis will chair a meeting on Thursday with sports officials aimed at protecting the new Athens Metro system from vandalism during major sporting events.

Laliotis has invited representatives from the football and basketball sports federations, as well as leading sports figures, coaches, team presidents and sports writers to the meeting, to be held at 1 p.m. at the Syntagma Square station.

He plans to underline the need for sports fans to use the Athens Metro - and all forms of public transport - with due care.

[08] Turkey - Assembly - Friendship group

ANKARA (ANA � A. Abatzis) � The recent rapprochement in bilateral relations has also apparently influenced the Turkish national assembly, where it was announced this week that a committee of Greek-Turkish friendship has been established in the neighbouring country�s legislature.

Former Turkish defence minister Turhan Tayan, a True Path (DYP) deputy, has been appointed as the committee�s chairman. Other deputies on the committee include Democratic Left MP Hakan Tartan � who a few years ago had promoted the notion of such a group � as well as Motherland Party deputy and author Yilmaz Katakoyuglu.

[09] Students-habits

Thirty percent of Greece's 15-year-old students are regular smokers, and exercise less than they did four years earlier due to increasing pressure at school, according to the results of a nationwide study, released on Wednesday.

The study, on a sample of 4,300 students aged 11, 13, and 15 from across the country, was conducted in the framework of a worldwide study on the health of student populations, sponsored by the World Health Organisation and taking in 27 European countries, Canada and the U.S.

The study showed that 4.0 percent of 11-year-olds had tried smoking and that 1.0 percent of that age group said they smoked regularly. The percentage skyrocketed in the 15-year age group.

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