Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 97-03-17
From: The Greek Press & Information Office, Ottawa Canada <grnewsca@sympatico.ca>
ATHENS NEWS AGENCY BULLETIN (No 1140), March 17, 1997
Greek Press & Information Office
Ottawa, Canada
E-Mail Address: grnewsca@sympatico.ca
CONTENTS
[01] Greece active in EU diplomatic mission to Tirana today
[02] Evert visits southern Albania for contacts
[03] Second evacuation operation successful
[04] Greek aid reaches Albania
[05] US envoy concerned at Albanian developments
[06] Archbishop Anastasios' appeal
[07] Greece reiterates position on EU expansion
[08] Kileler farmers' anniversary provides focus for wide-ranging
protests
[09] Teachers return to classrooms but consider alternative labor
action
[10] Crucial week ahead for New Democracy
[11] More homes to be built in Komotini
[12] 18 presumed dead as boat sinks in Aegean
[13] Inquiry under way after shipyard blast kills worker
[14] Search for missing 'Kostakos' seamen begins
[15] Thessaloniki hosts exhibition on Neolithic civilization
[01] Greece active in EU diplomatic mission to Tirana today
Athens, 17/03/1997 (ANA)
Greece will be actively involved in the European Union's first
tentative steps to help the Albanian authorities restore order
in the anarchic Balkan republic and will continue its own
contacts in Albania in an effort to bring an end to the crisis,
it was announced yesterday.
As a first step, the EU has decided to send a high-level mission
to Tirana today, led by Dutch diplomat Jan de Marchant et
d'Ansembourg and including representatives from EU presidency
the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, the European Commission and the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The aim of the mission is to explore the steps needed to be
taken to normalize the situation in Albania.
The European Unions' Council of Foreign Ministers meeting
informally over the weekend in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, shied
away from sending troops into Albania but said they would send
an expert military and police advisory group to try and help
restore order.
They said they would consider providing protection for the
mission if it was needed, but stressed that it was not a
military operation.
"The European Union has decided the dispatch of representatives
to Albania with the aim of studying the situation and offering
assistance to the Albanian government in its efforts to restore
public order and safety," government spokesman Dimitris Reppas
said in Athens yesterday.
He said Greece would be represented in this mission by
ambassador Dimitris Kypraios and Brigadier Ioannis Tsagaris.
Foreign Under-secretary Yiannos Kranidiotis will visit
Gjirokaster tomorrow, as part of intense diplomatic and
political contacts on the part of the Greek government to find a
peaceful political solution, Mr. Reppas said.
"Greece will continue to offer humanitarian aid and we believe
that soon the crisis will be over and Albanians and Albania will
see better days," Mr. Reppas said.
The Albanian crisis and prospects for the achievement of a
political solution will be discussed at a meeting to be chaired
by Prime Minister Costas Simitis today.
The meeting will be attended by foreign and defense ministry
officials and ministers. In order to attend the meeting,
Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou's scheduled visit
to Sweden has been postponed.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos said on Saturday
that Greece could participate in an "international police force
unit" in Albania, replying to journalists' questions shortly
before the opening of the EU foreign ministers informal meeting
in Apeldoorn. The OSCE's special envoy for Albania, former
Austrian chancellor Franz Vranitzky, supports the sending of a
police force to Albania, made up of forces from those European
countries which wish to participate.
[02] Evert visits southern Albania for contacts
Athens, 17/03/1997 (ANA)
Main opposition New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert
yesterday visited southern Albania for meetings with local
officials and representatives of the ethnic Greek minority.
Mr. Evert went directly to Sarande and was due to visit
Gjirokaster later in the day.
Meanwhile, National Defense Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos said at
the weekend that Greece would participate in an OSCE
international police force for Albania if the organization
accepted the proposal submitted by its envoy Franz Vranitsky.
By participating, he said, Greece would be fulfilling the
obligation it has as Albania's neighbor.
During his visit to Gjirokaster yesterday morning, Mr. Evert met
with the Greek consul and representatives of the Greek minority
and of the insurgents, and was briefed on the situation
prevailing in the area.
Mr. Evert said his visit to southern Albania aimed to "boost the
morale of the Greek minority" in the area and noted that Greece
played an important role in Albania's development, through its
financial reinforcement.
He added that the Greek government and opposition parties were
following a joint foreign policy on the issue. The New Democracy
leader expressed the hope that the crisis in Albania will be
resolved peacefully soon, adding that "other solutions must be s
ought, and there must be a constitutional framework in the
country."
[03] Second evacuation operation successful
Athens, 17/03/1997 (ANA)
The second operation by Greek armed forces to evacuate foreign
citizens from Albania ended successfully on Saturday.
By 1:35 p.m., 250 people, mainly Chinese, Jordanian and Egyptian
nationals, had boarded the "Kavaloudis" missile boat.
They headed for Corfu on board the frigate "Aegaio", which had
been moored in the port of Durres.
[04] Greek aid reaches Albania
Athens, 17/03/1997 (ANA)
The foreign ministry announced that medical and pharmaceutical
aid for Albania was delivered to hospitals in Sarande,
Gjirokaster, Tepeleni and Premeti on Saturday. The aid was met
at the Kakavia border crossing by ambulances and transported to
the ho spitals.
The National Foundation for Welcoming and Rehabilitating
Expatriate Greeks (EIYAPOE) is to begin delivering food aid,
mainly flour, to southern Albanian villages today, in
co-operation with the prefectural and local self-administration
of Ioannina and Thesprotia.
[05] US envoy concerned at Albanian developments
Athens, 17/03/1997 (ANA)
US Ambassador to Athens Thomas Niles assessed that developments
in Albania may make the situation in Kosovo "difficult ".
Speaking in Edessa on Saturday, Mr. Niles said "the situation in
FYROM is calm and we hope it will stay calm. However, in Kosovo
the situation can become difficult as a result of developments
in Albania."
Mr. Niles said the fact the population in Albania is armed is
very dangerous, adding that "all the surrounding countries, and
my country, must help in the creation of a national unity
government in Albania."
[06] Archbishop Anastasios' appeal
Athens, 17/03/1997 (ANA)
Albanian TV yesterday broadcast an urgent appeal by Archbishop
of Tirana and All Albania Anastasios, calling for an end to the
acute problem of looting around the country. The appeal, also
read at Orthodox Cathedrals in major cities throughout the
country, said hysteria should come to an end.
[07] Greece reiterates position on EU expansion
Apeldoorn, The Netherlands 17/03/1997 (ANA - M. Spinthourakis)
The European Union Council of Ministers reiterated over the
weekend its explicit commitment that a structured dialogue with
Cyprus will take place, together with the structured dialogue of
other candid ate countries, and that this issue will be
discussed at the next meeting of the committee of EU
member-states permanent representatives (COREPER), Foreign
Minister Theodoros Pangalos said yesterday.
Mr. Pangalos highlighted the Cyprus issue, relations between the
European Union and Turkey and Greek-Turkish relations during a
press conference at the end of the informal Council of EU
Foreign Ministers in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands.
The insistence of certain countries on the involvement of the
Turkish Cypriot community in the negotiations for Cyprus'
accession was "unacceptable", Mr. Pangalos said, because it
placed in doubt the EU's existing commitment that Cyprus will be
the first among accession candidates with which accession
negotiations will get under way.
Commenting on relations between the EU and Turkey, Mr. Pangalos
told reporters that "the discussion which took place was wider
on the problems our country has with Turkey."
Replying to a question on whether or not Turkey has the right to
seek a place in Europe, he said "a democratic and progressive
Turkey, with economic strength and balance and an open society
will be a big vested interest for Europe."
Mr. Pangalos said Greece has special ties with Turkey and the
Turkish people which have been shaped through history, adding
that Greece "has a special understanding of the neighboring
country's attitude and problems and that in no way - as some in
western and northern Europe - does it have prejudices." He said
Europe is multireligious and multicultural and consequently it
does not exclude any country from accession to the EU on
religious criteria.
Mr. Pangalos said Turkey must make its choices because it cannot
"want to be a member of the EU and at the same time behave to
political and ethnic minorities in the way it is behaving, to
violate human rights and freedom of the press, not to contribute
towards resolving the Cyprus issue, thinking that it can do this
indefinitely and, lastly, to raise historically inaccurate and
legally untenable territorial claims against a country such as
Greece which is a member of the EU."
He said the Greek approach is "moderate and integrated" and that
efforts by some to show a front of 14 against one inside the EU
have failed. He said that if this was the case then it would
mean Europe is entering a phase of "moral and political crisis. "
Mr. Pangalos said German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel asked him
whether Greece intends to lift its reservations in relation to
the EU-Turkey financial protocol and he replied "certainly not."
Mr. Kinkel walked out of the session afterwards. He said this
stance is not unprecedented but is considered unacceptable by
Greece.
"Nobody can come and submit an ultimatum and then become angry
when the ultimatum is not accepted," he said.
Mr. Pangalos said the Council agreed to a position on Turkey
which is expressed in a relevant document prepared by the Dutch
presidency with which Greece agrees. According to the document,
prospects for Turkey remain valid in relation to the association
agreement of 1963 and the European Commission's avis in 1989:
Turkey will have to be handled with the same spectrum of
criteria and principles with which the other candidates will be
handled, the European Commission is called on to shape a package
of proposals for strengthening customs union between Turkey and
the EU and the Dutch presidency will continue contacts between
Greece and Turkey on the Aegean issue, which could lead to a
successful Association Council.
Mr. Pangalos said the Dutch presidency has an idea in that
Turkey and Greece should each choose a "wise man" to have the
process examined by which resorting to The Hague will be
feasible. He said that in Greece's view such a process is not
necessary, but added that Greece did not wish to exclude the
presidency's initiative.
Replying to a questioner on whether this process will result in
the drawing up of a joint agreement on referring the issue of
the Imia islets to the International Court at The Hague, Mr.
Pangalos said there can be no joint agreement on Imia and
neither is it necessary, although one is needed for the
continental shelf because it is a new problem where legal rules
are unclear.
[08] Kileler farmers' anniversary provides focus for wide-ranging
protests
Athens, 17/03/1997 (ANA)
The 87th anniversary of the farmers' uprising in Kileler,
central Greece, turned into a protest rally yesterday with
farmers, workers, teachers and pensioners from all over the
country finding an opportunity to air their grievances against
the government.
The event was attended by Communist Party of Greece (KKE)
Secretary-General Aleka Papariga, Democratic Social Movement
leader Dimitris Tsovolas and representatives of all political
parties with the exception of the ruling PASOK party.
About 7,000 people responded to the call by the farmers'
Thessaly Coordinating Committee, making yesterday's rally the
biggest in the past 10 years.
The speakers, most of them members of the Coordinating
Committee, sent a message to the government and the "mandarins
in Athens" that their struggle would continue.
Athanassios Nasikas, a member of the committee and president of
the Stockbreeders' Federation, told the government "you have not
finished with us" and announced in advance that stockbreeders
will come to Athens next month.
Yiannis Pattakis, president of the committee, said that "the
bells of the uprising are tolling again", while KKE deputy
Evangelos Boutas predicted further protests in autumn, warning
the government that either it will solve the farmers' problems
or "pack up and leave."
Ms Papariga said struggles will flare up in the years to come,
while Mr. Tsovolas criticized Prime Minister Costas Simitis that
his so-called progressive policy was, in face, "a harsh
conservative policy".
[09] Teachers return to classrooms but consider alternative labor
action
Athens, 17/03/1997 (ANA)
High-school teachers throughout the country return to classrooms
today after 44 days on strike.
Teachers' association representatives in the early hours of
Saturday voted 38-32 in favor of calling off the strike. The
board of administration of the teachers' federation (OLME) had
proposed that the strike should continue.
After the vote was announced, teachers' representatives
continued in session to discuss other forms of protest, such as
work stoppages and a possible 24-hour strike for this week.
Education Under-secretary Ioannis Anthopoulos yesterday said the
teachers' strike was "unjustified" and called on them to "repair
the damage".
"The strike is over. We the state, as well as the teachers have
a duty: to repair the damages caused by the protracted and
unjustified strike," he told reporters in Thessaloniki yesterday.
[10] Crucial week ahead for New Democracy
Athens, 17/03/1997 (ANA)
The main opposition New Democracy party's three-day 4th Congress
will start at the Peace and Friendship Stadium on Friday where
some 3,400 delegates will elect a new party leader from four
candidates in what is believed by many to be the party's most
crucial congress in its 22-year history.
The candidates contesting the leadership are the incumbent
leader Miltiades Evert and his challengers George Souflias,
Costas Karamanlis and Vyron Polydoras.
The 4th congress will be the first to elect a party leader but
many concede that it will constitute an important step towards
widening democracy in the party, while many others claim that
the problems of the party's political orientation and cohesion
will not be resolved during the upcoming congress.
Consequently, many cadres are concerned about the "next day",
namely the party's cohesion and the prospect of it being able to
appear as a party capable of winning power and ruling
effectively. Much will depend on decisions to be taken on the
party's charter and program and, primarily, the attitude of the
losers towards the winner and their handling by the new leader.
However, predictions as to who will win are still wide open.
What remains to be seen is whether the outcome of the congress
at the Peace and Friendship Stadium will bring peace and
friendship to strife-torn ND.
[11] More homes to be built in Komotini
Athens, 17/03/1997 (ANA)
The president of the Labor Housing Organization, OEK, Thanassis
Hanakoulas yesterday laid the foundation stone for a complex of
148 houses budgeted at three billion drachmas to be built in the
Ektenepol project of Komotini.
The settlement will complete OEK's housing program in Komotini.
The houses will be ready in 18 months' time and will be provided
for homeless people in the area and for expatriate Black Sea
Greeks who have returned from former Soviet republics.
In another development, tendering has taken place for 271 houses
at the Neapolis location in Xanthi to meet the housing needs of
workers and employees in the area. The houses will cost eight
billion drachmas and will be built with funds from OEK.
[12] 18 presumed dead as boat sinks in Aegean
Athens, 17/03/1997 (ANA)
Eighteen illegal immigrants were presumed dead last night after
a boat carrying them from Turkey sank in Turkish territorial
waters just off the islet of Ro early yesterday.
Port authorities on Ro were notified of the incident by a
survivor of the incident, an Iranian man, who said he swam to
the Greek islet after the boat sank. A further two survivors
were rescued by port police vessels arriving at the scene
shortly after the initial reports. The port police said they saw
bodies floating within Turkish territorial waters. Turkish
authorities and ships sailing nearby were notified to search the
area for possible survivors. After the incident was reported,
Turkish coast guard vessels collected the bodies and transported
them back to Kas.
According to reports, the 21 illegal immigrants, including three
women and three children, bought the boat, without an engine, in
the town of Kas in Turkey in order to row to Kastellorizo and
request political asylum from the Greek authorities. The three
survivors said that half-way between the Turkish coast and the
island, the boat began to leak and sank soon afterwards. They
said none of the 18 who perished could swim, and there were no
life jackets on board.
The three surviving men have been hospitalized in Kastellorizo,
whe-re one, whose four-month pregnant wife drowned in the
incident, is being treated for severe shock. Due to good weather
conditions in the eastern Aegean over the past few days, roughly
100 illegal immigrants have managed to put ashore on the islands
of Patmos, Symi and Agathonisi.
[13] Inquiry under way after shipyard blast kills worker
Athens, 17/03/1997 (ANA)
An explosion in a water tanker under repair in a Perama shipyard
on Saturday, in which one man was killed and seven were
seriously injured, has highlighted the problem concerning
inadequate safety measures for workers at the yard.
An investigation into the accident revealed yesterday that a
repair crew painting the interior of the "Evgenia" was working
without a license from port authorities.
Sources said the ship had not been inspected for the possible
existence of fumes from the fuel still in its tanks, which could
have contributed to the explosion, thought to have been caused
by a spark while the painters were working in one of the ship's
holds.
The owner of the shipyard, Vardis Kelaidis, and Panagiotis
Fyntanis, responsible for the painting crew, were arrested
yesterday and are to appear in court today in connection with
the incident.
The ship's captain, Panagiotis Vryonis, currently in hospital
being treated for burns, is also to appear in court on charges
of negligence. Arrest warrants have been issued for the tanker's
owners, Yiannis and Alexandros Boufis, who are thought to be on
the island of Spetses.
A Piraeus court has ordered an investigation into the causes of
the accident.
[14] Search for missing 'Kostakos' seamen begins
Athens, 17/03/1997 (ANA)
Navy officials began searching the interior of the "Kostakos"
missile boat yesterday morning for the bodies of four officers
missing since the vessel sank in an accident last November.
Reports said one body had been detected but had not yet been
removed from the wreck, raised from the sea bed on Saturday
after months of efforts.
Water was being pumped out of the wreck yesterday so that a
special fluid can be used to protect equipment and machinery
against corrosion.
The Kostakos sank off the eastern Aegean island of Samos on
November 4, after colliding with the ferry boat "Samaina".
[15] Thessaloniki hosts exhibition on Neolithic civilization
Athens, 17/03/1997 (ANA)
Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos inaugurated a major
exhibition in Thessaloniki yesterday called "Neolithic
Civilization in Greece." The exhibition includes hundreds of
items such as urns, tools, statuettes, ceramics and jewelry
dating from 6800 to 3200 B.C. and originating from 48 museums
from Greece and four from Cyprus.
"The exhibition constitutes a challenge for European cultural
history and aesthetics," Mr. Venizelos said during the
inauguration ceremony, adding that "many of the items on display
bear many common points with modern industrial design."
End of English language section.
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