Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias yesterday said his scheduled acquaintance meeting with his Turkish counterpart in New York next week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly was being reviewed following recent political developments in Ankara.
"I do not know whom I will be meeting and if it will actually take place," Mr. Papoulias told reporters yesterday after briefing President Kostis Stephanopoulos on national issues.
Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller resigned on Wednesday after a rift over domestic security issues with her conservative True Path Party's coalition partner, the social democrats.
Mr. Papoulias hinted, however, that he did not expect much from such a meeting if one took place.
He rejected claims by his outgoing Turkish counterpart Erdal Inonu that Greece was unwilling to hold talks with Ankara on bilateral problems. "Mr. Inonu expresses the Turkish positions, because Greece's stance is that there are no bilateral disputes with Turkey, but only the (Aegean) continental shelf issue which Greece has proposed be taken before the International Court of Justice at The Hague," Mr. Papoulias said.
On the other hand, Mr. Papoulias went on, Turkey was the reluctant side with respect to the Cyprus problem, noting that "the military element in Turkey is not willing to proceed to a Cyprus solution".
Asked whether the Greek government was concerned given the latest political developments in Turkey, Mr. Papoulias again referred to the Turkish military element, saying: "We are concerned when there is uncertainty in political developments because there are many elements that comprise Turkey's internal affairs, and the military element must be taken into consideration".
Foreign Ministry spokesman Costas Bikas said that Greece's position on the extension of its territorial waters was "not negotiable" and "if and when this takes place is our country's prerogative".
Referring to the Greece-Cyprus joint defense dogma, Mr. Bikas said "it is an affront to our intelligence that Turkey, which occupies Cypriot territory, should claim that it is threatened."
Meanwhile, commenting on Mr. Inonu's statement, government spokesman Nikos Athanassakis reiterated that the only issue between Athens and Ankara is that of the continental shelf, "and Greece has proposed recourse to the International Court of Justice, which Turkey refuses".
Greece, he said, maintains the right to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles, adding that the primary national issue was that of Cyprus, which he described as a matter of invasion and occupation.
He said Greece does not interfere in Turkey's domestic affairs, commenting on Ms Ciller's resignation Wednesday, and that Athens was closely following and assessing the situation in neighboring Turkey, underlining "the general interest in stability in Turkey".
Mr. Athanassakis said Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou would raise the Greek national issues at the EU informal summit in Majorca, noting that "it is the general principle of the government to raise our national issues at the appropriate bodies and at the proper time".
Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos will officially open an international ecological seminar underlining the interest of the Orthodox Church in environmental protection today after welcoming Orthodox Church primates at the Phanar yesterday.
The international meeting, due to take place on the high seas from Istanbul to Patmos, is sponsored by Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos and the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, president of the World Wildlife Fund.
The presidency of the international meeting has been assumed by academic and professor Pergamos Metropolitan Ioannis Zizoulias. Its honorary committee includes US Vice President Albert Gore, UN Secretary-General Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, European Commission President Jacques Santer, Prince Sandrudin Aga Khan, Russian Science Academy Vice President Yevgeny Velikhon, Alexandria Patriarch Parthenios, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Roger Etchegary, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, TURMEPA President Rahmi Koc and the poet Odysseas Elytis.
Church sources said the meeting of Orthodox Church primates or their representatives, with the exception of the Moscow Patriarch, attaches great importance to the Ecumenical Patriarchate's initiative and expressed regret over the absence of the Moscow Patriarch or his representative from the meeting.
The Moscow Patriarch, invoking his differences with the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the "Estonian" issue and the issue of Diaspora Ukrainians, announced last month he would not attend the meeting and refused to change his mind despite appeals from the Phanar.
Guests were due to attend a reception and dinner last night held by Turkish ecological organization TURMEPA President Rahmi Koc at the Ciragan hotel.
The ship "Moni Prevellis", which will host the meeting, will leave Istanbul today for Ephesus where guests will visit Saint John's tomb and ancient monuments on the site tomorrow.
A group will perform John Tavener's oratorium "The Apocalypse" at the Ephesus Theater on Sunday.
An impressive plaque inspired by St. John's vision of the Apocalypse will be given as a commemorative gift to Church leaders and international personalities attending a floating symposium marking the 1,900th anniversary of the writing of the Book of Revelations. The sterling silver depiction of the Seven Trumpet Calls was designed by renowned Greek jeweler Ilias Lalaounis and is an abstract reproduction of a detail of a 16th century frieze from the St. Dionyssos monastery on Mount Athos.
Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias and visiting Cypriot left-wing EDEK party leader, Vassos Lyssaridis, held a meeting yesterday focusing on the Cyprus issue and other national issues.
Following the meeting, Mr. Lyssaridis told reporters that the real threat for both Cyprus and Greece was Turkey.
Expressing satisfaction that Greece's remaining national issues were in the process of being settled, the Cypriot politician said: "...We can now turn to the direction of the common threat, which is Turkey, both for Cyprus and Greece."
The meeting discussed latest developments and potential initiatives in the Cyprus question, in view of the current absence of international initiatives.
Mr. Lyssaridis said that Greece and Cyprus now had broader scope "to develop initiatives in the US, where there are forces which we can address, especially in the Congress, as well as in the European field, towards which Cyprus is methodizing its accession."
Regarding Turkish political developments, Mr. Lyssaridis said: "It is no secret that the dominant force in Turkey is the army, even if the remaining political forces also play a part in determining developments." "Governments of different colors have passed by the Turkish political front," he said. "But Ankara's policy towards its neighbors has never changed."
Main opposition New Democracy leader Miltiades Evert will pay a two-day visit to Munich to attend celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the Christian Social Union (CSU) party, at the invitation of party leader and Finance Minister Teo Weigel.
On the sidelines, Mr. Evert will try to meet with Helmut Kohl as well as European leaders who will also be visiting Germany.
The United States Senate yesterday rejected an amendment by Republican Senator Alfonso D' Amato for a reduction of over 50 per cent in US financial aid to Turkey for fiscal year 1996.
According to the amendment, US aid to Turkey would have been reduced to 21 million dollars from 46 million dollars, down by 25 million dollars. The Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives had reduced financial aid to Turkey, early in the year, to 46 million dollars from the 100 million dollars as originally agreed.
Addressing the Senate, Mr. D' Amato referred to human rights violations in Turkey, the continued embargo of humanitarian aid to Armenia, the persistent refusal of Ankara to cooperate for the finding of a lasting and viable solution to the Cyprus problem, and the refusal to respect basic human rights of the Kurds.
Coalition of the Left and Progress leader Nikos Constantopoulos yesterday summed up the party's position on the Skopje issue during a meeting with Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias, saying that the party wished for the promotion of Greek-FYROM talks, the conclusion of the interim accord signed in New York, with the aim of normalizing relations between the two states, and a composite name for the former Yugoslav republic.
Mr. Constantopoulos also referred to Greek-Turkish relations, saying that domestic developments in Turkey could prove threatening.
"Our country," Mr. Constantopoulos told reporters after the meeting, "has paid a substantial cost due to wrong handling in its relations with FYROM, by both the governments of PASOK and New Democracy as well as with the political tactics of the Politic al Spring party." "Dialogue with FYROM," he said, "is the only procedure that can promote stability in the region."
"A composite name," he added, "is also beneficial for Greece, and at the same time it ensures stability and improvement of relations with the neighboring country, as well as stability in the broader region." "It is necessary to promote talks on trade and cultural cooperation between the two sides," he said, adding that talks between the two countries should also include the name issue.
He further said that the interim accord should have been discussed in Parliament, reiterating the need for direct talks between the two sides, "outside the umbrella of the United States."
Concerning Greek-Turkish dialogue," Mr. Constantopoulos noted that "in order to be useful it should not be held outside a specific framework of general principles of international law, as well as under the guarantee of democratization inside Turkey."
"Dialogue with Turkey cannot be held independently of the pending Cyprus issue, nor independently of what is happening to the Kurds in Turkey," he added. Dialogue between Greece and Turkey, he added, should have a specific agenda.
New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert is reported to have asked the party's Eurodeputy Panayiotis Lambrias for explanations regarding his signing of a European Popular Party draft resolution, which "expresses satisfaction with the fact that, thanks to the mediation of the United States, Greece has signed an initial agreement with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), proving its willingness to contribute to stability in the region, and hopes that with existing cooperation and goodwill, the resolution of remaining problems will be made possible".
There was concern in the party that the reference might be interpreted as approval of the agreement. Mr. Lambrias explained that this was a misunderstanding, and that in no way had he wished to differentiate himself from the party's official position.
According to sources, Mr. Evert has sent a letter to the head of the party's Eurodeputies, Timos Christodoulou, reiterating the party's position in favor of the so-called 'large package' of issues for settlement with FYROM, that would have included the issue of the name, and asking that they vote against any resolutions that differed from this official position.
Nevertheless, Mr. Lambrias had said in his speech on the Bosnian crisis that "as a Greek I cannot but note that Greece has presently given a good example for the desired stabilization" by signing the accord with FYROM.
Sources at ND party headquarters referred to "an unfortunate expression" on the part of Mr. Lambrias, and said they considered the matter ended.
However, Political Spring party leader Antonis Samaras accused Mr. Evert of "political fraud", appearing, on one hand, to be blaming the government for signing the agreement at home, while, on the other, his party's Eurodeputies played a leading role in issuing resolutions in favor of the agreement.
Skopje state radio station reported yesterday that the process of gathering signatures among government coalition deputies, proposing the changing of the flag of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), had began. The procedure is expected to be completed by October 5, with the adoption of a new flag.
The changing of FYROM's flag is one of the provisions of the recent interim accord signed with Greece in New York, stipulating the removal of ancient Hellenic symbols and constitutional changes in return for the lifting of Greek trade sanctions.
In an interview with the Slovenian newspaper Ljubljanska Mladina, President Kiro Gligorov said that the term 'Macedonia' was both a geographical and a political concept.
"From a geographical point of view, the name Macedonia denotes an area extending within the borders of Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, and Macedonia. But there is also a political concept. This is the 'Republic of Macedonia', in the framework of its internationally recognized borders. Under this concept, our name poses a threat to nobody," he said.
Meanwhile, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Daniel Tarschys, who is on an official visit here, has stated that FYROM will be admitted as a full member of the organization at its next ministerial conference on November 10.
He added that as far as he knew there remained no obstacles to FYROM's membership, and the name under which the admission would be approved would be decided by the Council of Ministers. However, the report recommending admission proposed the term 'FYROM', he specified.
Visiting Federal Yugoslavia Republic Culture Minister Nanda Popovic said yesterday in Thessaloniki that the destructive consequences of war have also found expression in an explosive wave of new artistic movements and other cultural works.
"There has never been such a big and such a worthwhile cultural creation in our country," she said, adding that "the biggest crime of modern civilization in the period of this war is the embargo against culture."
Ms Popovic, who arrived in Greece at the invitation of Thessaloniki 1995 Culture City Foundation, said she hoped for cultural cooperation between the two countries.
She said that the Yugoslav Ministry is expected to soon complete a survey on the effects of war in the field of culture.
Foreign Undersecretary for Expatriate Greek Affairs Grigoris Niotis was due to open the 58th Conference of the Panarcadian Federation of the United States in New York yesterday.
Speaking to the press, Mr. Niotis numbered the objectives of the World Council of Overseas Greeks, due to be held in Thessaloniki on November 20 through December 8 with the participation of Greek community representatives from European Union countries, the Middle East, the eastern Mediterranean, the former Soviet Union, the Balkans, the United States, Canada, Australia and the African continent.
He said special meetings on different issues such as investments and education that concern cooperation between the National Centre with the overseas Greek community will be held on the sidelines of the Council.
Guards at the Acropolis, Greece's most famous monument, said yesterday they would stage a strike if demands for higher pay were not met by the government by the end of the month.
In an announcement, the guards said the government had until September 30 to satisfy their demands for increased pay or face rolling strike action.
Guards at state museums in Athens will also participate in the protest mobilization, the announcement said.
"There are prospects of extending the mobilizations on a daily basis throughout Greece," it added.
The guards, employed by the Culture Ministry, are pressing for a daily wage rate of 6,000 drachmas and a share in handsome state profits earned by souvenir shops at national museums and archeological sites.
Government officials said Culture Minister Thanos Mikroutsikos had pledged to satisfy the demands.
A mid-summer strike by the guards left thousands of frustrated tourists behind locked gates at the Acropolis and other archeological sites in Greece.
The state makes about five million drachmas a day from entrance fees to the Acropolis site alone. Over 8,000 tourists visit the 2,500-year-old temple daily during the summer season, officials say.
A Supreme Court prosecutor yesterday described a law confiscating ex-king Constantine's property in Greece as unconstitutional.
Prosecutor Athanassios Sioulas said Law 2215, promulgated by parliament in April last year, was not in accordance with constitutional provisions, article 5, paragraphs 1, 17, and 109.
The property in question includes a summer palace on Corfu, forest land in Tatoi, north of Athens, and an estate in Polydendri, central Greece.
The court was hearing the case of a suit brought by the trust managing the royal property against individuals leasing part of it.
Lawyers representing the Greek state claimed the suit was null, as according to Law 2215, the trust managing the royal property was considered non-existent. The court has reserved judgment.
The Europarliament yesterday endorsed a resolution calling for immediate financial aid to deal with the grave consequences of the fires which burned thousands of stremmas of forest-land and destroyed homes in July in the region of Attica.
The joint resolution was submitted by Greek Eurodeputies, Paraskevas Avgerinos, Kostas Hatzidakis and Katerina Daskalaki and expresses the Europarliament's solidarity and support to the residents of the stricken regions.
The resolution calls upon the European Commission to include action against fire in the framework of its town-planning policy and the INTERREG programme.
Stressing that the lack of common forest policy is responsible for the ineffectiveness of the Community and national action plans, the Europarliament seeks the consideration for legislation of a common forest policy during the 1996 intergovernmental conference.
The private Athens Medical Centre will provide know-how to improve the quality of medical services in the Palestinian self-rule territory, including the training of Palestinian doctors and nurses in Greece, it was announced yesterday.
Ambassador Abdullah Abdullah, chief of the Palestine Diplomatic Representation in Athens, told the ANA that three senior health officials had concluded six days of talks with the centre, which will also help convert a large prison in Nablus into a modern hospital.
The envoy said Palestinian Deputy Minister for Health Dr. Munzher Sharif, Director General Dr. Feissel Abdushahla and General Director for Public Health Dr. Nadim Toubasi were invited to Athens for talks with centre president George Apostolopoulos. During a recent visit to the self-rule territory, Mr. Apostolopoulos had offered PLO leader Yasser Arafat assistance and services in the health field.
While in Athens, the Palestinian delegation visited the General State Hospital as well as the Medical Centre facilities in Maroussi and Faliron, and met with Greek Health Undersecretary Nikos Farmakis for talks on cooperation and assistance in the health sector.
Under a cooperation programme, the centre will send three medical teams to perform certain operations in the self-rule territory and will receive difficult cases here, particularly ones involving children, Mr. Abdullah said. The centre will also t rain Palestinian doctors and nurses at its facilities here, and will send its own doctors in November to lecture to their Palestinian colleagues under a continuing education programme.
The Palestinian authority has invited Mr. Apostolopoulos to open a centre office there to coordinate the programme, and also to invest there under the Palestine reconstruction programme, the ambassador added.
The European Commission has lifted all its objections regarding the extension until 31/12/1995 of Ministerial Decree 30512/9-8-1991 on state subsidies to the Greek shipbuilding industry which are in accordance with clauses contained in Community directive 90/684/EC.
The Directive was to expire by 31 December 1994. However, the Council decided with its Directive 94/73/EC (2) to extend its application until 31 December 1995.
The maximum ceiling for operating aid is 9 per cent for the building of small vessels of contract value of less than ECU 10 million and for ship conversion the ceiling is 4.5 per cent, unless these vessels are destined for internal use in Greece, in which case the ceiling applicable is 9 per cent.
The current amendment of the Ministerial Decree 30512 comes to the application of Directive 94/73/EC and extends its application until 31 December 1995. The provisions of the Decree are not altered otherwise and aid is to be granted until the end of 199 5 up to the maximum aid ceiling established by the Commission for 1995. No aid to shipbuilding is to be granted beyond 1995.
The European Commission's decision is not related to state subsidies for the Skaramangas Shipyards which have been given to cover the company's deficits.
Tourism Minister Nikos Sifounakis and Greek National Tourism Organization (EOT) chief Apostolos Kossonas told a press conference yesterday that the fall in tourist activity this year was less dramatic than originally feared.
They estimated that the fall would amount to 10 per cent by the end of the year, and cited Rhodes as an example, where arrivals and overnight stays were 4.9 and 9.5 per cent down respectively in the January-July period, compared to the same period last year.
Mr. Kossonas referred to "a climate of panic created for no reason abroad, which suited the short-term interests of some", as well as to a coordinated attack against Greek tourism in the foreign press, with fabricated data.
He also called for the establishment of a permanent allocation of funds for advertising abroad. Mr. Sifounakis spoke at length about forthcoming events concerning the tourist industry.
He said a meeting had been scheduled in Athens on September 29, between the ministry, EOT, and representatives of the largest European tour operators, in which other ministries (foreign, transport, environment) would also participate, to discuss problem s in infrastructure, provide explanations, and present improvement prospects. Similar meetings with American and Asian tour operators would follow, he said.
The minister also said the PHILOXENIA annual tourism exhibition in Thessaloniki would be upgraded, with 45 registered participations this year - including 11 official state ones - compared to 20 last year, and emphasis given to the emerging tourist markets of Balkan, East European and Black Sea countries, which are showing an increasing interest in Greece.
Mr. Sifounakis announced changes in the basic tourism law 2160, and added there would be a review of the Official Operating Sign for rented rooms, for the application of stricter criteria.
Finally, he said the government had not yet reached a final decision on the location of the casino originally planned at Floisvos, Paleo Faliro, and that there would be a specific programme for improvements to the country's airports, to be completed by 1999.
The daily volume of transactions in foreign exchange has more than doubled in the last three years, according to figures released by the Bank of Greece yesterday.
Spot transactions (the transactions of one day) have exceeded two billion dollars in value compared with approximately one billion dollars in 1992, while forward transactions went up eight-fold, reaching 561 million dollars daily.
The rise in foreign exchange transactions is indicative of increased inflows of foreign exchange and loans in foreign exchange, while the liberalization of transactions also contributed to this to a large degree, according to the central bank.
The jump in forward transactions is attributed to the wide dissemination of new banking products based on foreign exchange.
More specifically, the daily volume of spot transactions reached 2.143 billion dollars against 1.027 billion dollars in 1992, marking a 108.7 per cent increase, while forward transactions reached 561 million dollars from 58 million dollars in 1992 (up by 867.25 per cent), and swaps rose to 894 million dollars from 10 million dollars in 1992.
According to the above figures, overall credit extension in the January-July period rose at a rate of 10.5 per cent against the July 1992-July 1993 figure and by 8.9 per cent on an annualized basis, compared with the targets of 6-8 per cent.
The rate of increase in loans to the private sector reached 18 per cent at the end of July.
The current accounts deficit increased 14.8 per cent over the first half year to total 2.378 billion dollars, after figures indicated a shortfall of 1.086 billion dollars for the corresponding period last year.
However, foreign exchange reserves continued to increase, reaching 16 billion dollars by the end of August.
According to data provided by the Bank of Greece, the increase in the deficit is mainly due to the trade deficit growing at a higher rate (26.5 per cent) than the rate of increase (9.1 per cent) in the surplus of invisible transactions (tourism, shipping, inflows from the EU, etc.).
More specifically, the country's overseas transactions presented the following picture in the above period:
- Imports 11.542 billion dollars (an increase of 25.6 per cent).
- Exports 2.885 billion dollars (an increase of 23 per cent).
- Trade deficit 8.657 billion dollars (an increase of 26.5 per cent).
- Tourist exchange 1.648 billion dollars (an increase of 30.2 per cent).
- Shipping exchange 1.058 billion dollars (an increase of 23.3 per cent).
- Immigrants' remittances 1.257 billion dollars (an increase of 16.6 per cent).
- Inflows from the European Union 2.366 billion dollars ( a decrease of 10.8 per cent).
- Current accounts deficit 2.378 billion dollars (an increase of 14.8 per cent).
- Capital inflow 2.507 billion dollars from 1.070 billion dollars during the corresponding period last year.
- Installments for paying off the state debt 3.785 billion dollars as against 2.399 billion dollars during the corresponding period last year.
- State loans in foreign exchange 5.597 billion dollars compared to 2.049 billion dollars during the corresponding period last year.