Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 02-01-05

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

CONTENTS

[01] Snowfall throughout Greece, even central Athens

[02] Turkey's NOTAM not a threat to sovereignty, Protopapas says

[03] Election law change will be made in the future, interior minister says

[04] Health minister defends institution of afternoon office hours for hospital MDs

[05] Deputy FM's visit to Istanbul postponed

[06] ND leader's flight to Istanbul cancelled due to icy conditions

[07] Transport minister briefs premier on Olympic Airways privatization

[08] Greek shipping register increases in December

[09] Euro transition relatively smooth so far, Protopapas says

[10] INA officially begins operations

[11] Hellenic Petroleum names new chairman

[12] Greek stocks end flat in very thin trade

[13] Greece plans to investigate fate of Bactrian treasures in Kabul

[14] Greek Cypriot takes Turkey to Court on missing husband and son

[01] Snowfall throughout Greece, even central Athens

Athens, 05/01/2002 (ANA)

Cars needed snow chains to negotiate the Athens-Corinth national highway from the 29th to the 34th kilometers and in several places along the Athens-Lamia national highway after the Kifissia junction. Also for the old Athens-Thebes highway from the 12th kilometer and in all the northern suburbs.

A massive tailback was caused on Marathonos Avenue in northeast Athens when the Stavros bridge at Agia Paraskevi was closed after 9:00 am due to the icy conditions and because the contraction of the concrete had caused large gaps in the bridge's surface.

Earlier in the day, both directions of Katehaki Avenue had been closed to traffic between the Pindos Street junction to Ilioupolis due to the icy conditions, as were roads from the square of Palea Pendeli to Nea Makri and from Dionysos to Nea Makri. Katehaki Avenue was reopened later in the day after the road surface was strewn with salt.

Deep snow and biting cold were prevalent in the rest of Greece once again this year, with several villages reported snowbound up and down the country and traffic impeded by bad conditions from Evros to Crete.

The operations center at the Public Order Ministry was constantly receiving calls on Friday of roads blocked throughout the national road system, even on the Aegean island of Hios.

Twenty-nine villages in Trikala, seven in Fthiotida, seven in southwest Lefkada, six in Arcadia and four in Evia were cut off by the snow on Friday morning, while traffic had been stopped on several roads and national highways throughout the country.

The snow extended to the south of Greece, with roads reported blocked in Patras and Tripoli, including the Athens-Corinth-Tripoli-Kalamata national highway, the Tripoli-Sparti national highway and the roads to Pyrgos and Megalopolis.

The road to Kalavryta was also impassable, according to reports from Patras, and some 10 villages were cut off in the Halandritsa area.

At latest report, the Rio-Antirrio ferry services were operating without problems.

Not so in Kavala, however, where in addition to the deep snow that once again blanketed the region, residents also had to contend with gale-force winds and a ban on ship departures in the northeast Aegean.

Temperatures in eastern Macedonia and Thrace were reportedly a freezing -18 to -2 degrees centigrade, while tones of salt have been strewn in attempts to clear road surfaces of ice and snow.

According to reports from Thessaloniki, meanwhile, the problems are fewer in central and western Macedonia, where skies are clear in spite of the freezing cold temperatures. Local traffic police warned drivers, however, to beware of ice on the roads.

The sun was also shining in the northwestern Greek city of Ioannina on Friday but strong winds and extreme cold caused problems in the surrounding road network.

Temperatures in the mountain passes of Katara dropped to an arctic -20C so that even salt had no effect on the snow, making the road impassable to those without snow chains. The high winds also forced the ferries at the Preveza-Aktio crossing to stay in port, and no open-style ferries are carrying out crossings from Corfu to Igoumenitsa.

Interior minister, civil defense officials meet in light of weather conditions: The civil defense general secretariat met on Friday afternoon with the leadership of the ministry of interior to discuss the cur-rent extreme weather phenomena plaguing the country.

The focus of the meeting were conditions in south central Greece and Attica.

Interior Minister Costas Skandalidis said that the state was ex-pending effort to maintain the national road system in functional conditions, adding that Greece's armed forces are also employed in the task.

Meanwhile, Health and Welfare Minister Alekos Papadopoulos issued a decision calling for all hospitals to be open and ready to receive the public in light of the extreme weather conditions.

[02] Turkey's NOTAM not a threat to sovereignty, Protopapas says

Athens, 05/01/2002 (ANA)

The spokesman pointed out that this matter was strictly the concern of civil aviation authorities and demanded delicate handling on the part of the appropriate political services.

The air corridors in question, he added, passed through the Turkish Flight Information Region (FIR) and over Turkish soil for a very short distance. Because it was practically impossible for aircraft to change frequencies for just a few seconds, the ICAO had assigned the administration of these air-corridors to Greece.

At the same time, the spokesman said that the government acknowledged that Turkey had not chosen this particular time to raise this issue entirely at random and that the timing was linked to the pressures caused by Cyprus' approaching European Union accession and talks for a solution to the Cyprus problem.

"Turkey must understand, however, that it is precisely at this time that it must contribute positively to developments and that such actions are not compatible with the positive climate that must be created," he added.

Asked about Greece's handling of the situation, Protopapas said that this had to be done in a careful and technical way and not treated as a sovereignty issue.

"Greece's interest must be focused on the true problems, such as the Cyprus issue and Cyprus' EU accession," he said.

The spokesman said that Turkey's actions obviously aimed to create a climate of tension and that Greece had to resist this.

"The specific problem with the air-corridors will be dealt with in the best possible way, in collaboration with the appropriate authorities," he said.

Asked whether aircraft had to lodge flight plans in order the use those air corridors at the moment, the spokesman answered "possibly" but said that the issue had not been finally settled.

Main opposition ND and KKE react to gov't's handling of Turkish Notam: Main opposition New Democracy (ND) deputy Spilios Spiliotopoulos on Friday accused the government of continual back sliding on national issues, which he said is damaging to the country.

Specifically, Spiliotopoulos stressed that the government's action regarding the Turkish Notam on flights of Greek civilian aircraft within the Istanbul FIR was damaging to the country, saying that "backsliding continually to damaging - for our national interests - (the government) adopted Turkish positions regarding air corridors R19 and G18".

"These positions (of Turkey) pre existed, but no Greek government accepted them until today," he added.

On her part, Communist Party of Greece (KKE) leader Aleka Papariga on Friday said that the Notam issued by Turkey regarding flights of Greek civilian aircraft within the Istanbul FIR was not all together unrelated with the planned trip of Prime Minister Costas Simitis to the United States.

She blamed the government for the current developments saying that it was the Simitis government that accepted the NATO control of the Aegean, adding that from that moment on the Greek government gave up every right to claim respect for Greece's sovereign rights.

[03] Election law change will be made in the future, interior minister says

Athens, 05/01/2002 (ANA)

Responding to rumors that the government chose to promote a system similar to that of Germany's, he said that his ministry has not worked on any draft of an election law, nor does it adopt the German or any other model.

[04] Health minister defends institution of afternoon office hours for hospital MDs

Athens, 05/01/2002 (ANA)

"The first impression from the operation of afternoon office hours for hospital doctors is especially encouraging, despite all that is said by those who think that they can exercise an illegal medical practice," Papadopoulos said.

He said that he stressed to the premier that this new institution will contribute to the restructuring of the system and will help save the public health system as it has done in other European Union member-states.

[05] Deputy FM's visit to Istanbul postponed

Athens, 05/01/2002 (ANA)

The visit has been rescheduled for January 30.

Magriotis was to have begun a two-day visit to Istanbul on Saturday at the invitation of Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos.

[06] ND leader's flight to Istanbul cancelled due to icy conditions

Athens, 05/01/2002 (ANA)

The opposition leader was scheduled to fly to the city for a meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos with an Olympic Airways flight that was initially delayed for two hours while the airline tried to remove ice from the body of the aircraft and finally cancelled.

Domestic flights by Olympic Aviation have been cancelled due to the bad conditions in Greek airports, while other Olympic Airways flights are experiencing massive delays.

Inter-city buses have also cancelled scheduled routes to east Attica, while the Athens public bus service (OASA) has stopped bus routes to the northern suburbs after large buses became trapped due to ice on the roadways.

[07] Transport minister briefs premier on Olympic Airways privatization

Athens, 05/01/2002 (ANA)

Specifically, Verelis briefed the premier on the way the landscape in telecommunications is shaping with the advent of competition to the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE).

They also talked about the 300 per cent increase in Internet usage in Greece, during 2001 in comparison to 2000, as the telecommunication market began to be deregulated, thus at this point 12 per cent of Greeks have access to the World Wide Web.

The premier also asked to be briefed on the course of the negotiations with the Australian IAS company for the privatization of Olympic Airways, and stated that in the event that they will progress normally and IAS will pay the 120 million euros for the company, that money will be held in a special account to fund the new Olympic Airways as it will be formulated after the break up of the current system.

They also talked ways to improve the public transport system of Athens.

Following his meeting with the premier, Verelis also made statements about the problems of OA's flights caused by the weather, saying that all problems were resolved and since this afternoon all flights were conducted normally.

[08] Greek shipping register increases in December

Athens, 05/01/2002 (ANA)

The country's port authority said that 11 new vessels, with a total capacity of 397,443 tons, were registered, while nine vessels totalling 178,034 tons were withdrawn in the last month of 2001.

The newly registered ships have an average age of 15 years, while the withdrawn vessels had an average age of 27 years.

[09] Euro transition relatively smooth so far, Protopapas says

Athens, 05/01/2002 (ANA)

The spokesman noted that the problems that did occur, such as at the queues at toll posts and at water board (EYDAP) offices, were dealt with relatively quickly and compared them to the equivalent situation in neighboring Italy, where the queue at toll posts stretched back five kilometers.

[10] INA officially begins operations

Athens, 05/01/2002 (ANA)

INA is an initiative by the Greece's largest companies in the telecommunications and IT sectors and aims to analyze and study developments in the telecoms sector in southeastern Europe.

It was created on the initiative of the Federation of Northern Greece Industries (SBBE) after a proposal by Intracom's chairman, Socrates Kokkalis, presented in the 5th Annual Balkan Conference Forum.

INA's founding members include: OTE SA, Intrasoft SA, Info Quest AEBE, Hellascom SA, Siemens SA, Altec AEBE, Intracom SA, Panafon SA and ForthNet SA. INA's initial capital totals Dr 500 million.

INA's chairman, Vassilis Takas, told reporters during a news conference, that SBBE has decided to set up the institute acknowledging the significance of the country's geopolitical position (neighboring the emerging Balkan markets) and developments in the global IT and telecommunications markets.

"INA's ambition is to become an independent agency that will study, analyze and approach scientifically developments in the telecommunications market in Southeastern Europe, by supporting the work of interested state and private agencies," Takas said.

INA's activities will cover: the set up of data banks, research of technological developments in the telecoms sector and of demand for telecoms and IT services, seeking of investment opportunities in the sector in Southeastern Europe, conferencing, cooperation with EU and other international lending agencies and creating a computer networks in region.

Takas said INA has already moved to ensure funding from national and international agencies and said its operation would need another Dr 500 million in the next two years.

[11] Hellenic Petroleum names new chairman

Athens, 05/01/2002 (ANA)

The decision was announced after Friday's general shareholders' meeting.

[12] Greek stocks end flat in very thin trade

Athens, 05/01/2002 (ANA)

The general index ended 0.40 percent higher at 2,646.38 points, with turnover a disappointing Dr 27.8 billion, or 81.6 million euros.

Traders said buying interest focused on medium-sized capitalization stocks.

The Publications, Construction and Metals sectors scored the biggest percentage gains (1.81 percent, 1.30 percent, 0.78 percent, respectively), while the Retail, IT Solutions and Insurance sectors suffered the heaviest losses (1.06 percent, 0.47 percent and 0.24 percent, respectively).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.4.0 percent higher, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index rose 0.67 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 0.35 percent higher.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 178 to 128 with another 48 issues unchanged.

The general index ended the shortened week with a net gain of 2.09 percent.

The most heavily traded shares were Hellenic Telecommunications Organization, Panafon, National Bank of Greece, Klostiria Naousis and the Public Power Corporation.

Derivatives Market Close: Equity futures end higher: Equity futures on the Athens Derivatives Exchange on Friday showed a slightly higher premium than in the previous session in a trading day that was marked by a small increase in volume, traders said.

Changing hands were 3,604 contracts a little lower than the previous session. Turnover was 22.581 million euros.

The underlying FTSE/ASE-20 index for heavily traded stocks and blue chips rose by 0.40 percent; and the underlying FTSE/ASE-40 for medium capitalization stocks gained 0.67 percent.

Bond Market Close: Prices drop in increased trade: Bond prices in the domestic secondary market on Friday finished higher in slightly low trade than in the previous session focusing on ten-year paper.

The Greek benchmark 10-year bond showed a yield of 5.28 percent, and the yield spread over German bunds was 34 basis points.

Turnover through the central bank's electronic system totaled almost 1.7 billion euros.

Sell orders accounted for the bulk of turnover.

[13] Greece plans to investigate fate of Bactrian treasures in Kabul

Athens, 05/01/2002 (ANA)

Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos chaired a meeting on this issue on Friday morning, attended by the archaeologist in charge of the Bactrian excavations, Prof. Viktoras Sarigiannidis, and members of the Greek Archaeological Service.

The initiative will be carried out in collaboration with UNESCO and the temporary Afghan government, while the United States and the Russian Federation will also be briefed on its development.

It follows upon proposals made by Greece at the 11th meeting of UNESCO's intergovernmental committee for the return of cultural artifacts to their country of origin - something that happened in March 2001 in Cambodia.

Greece has already participated in the creation of a new UNESCO fund for the return of cultural items and said it is ready to contribute to the restoration of Afghanistan's museums, the preservation and temporary storage of cultural artifacts from this country and to provide archaeological know-how.

A mission comprised of Greek archaeologists and other specialist scientists, as well as professor Sarigiannidis, is to travel to Afghanistan as soon as possible.

[14] Greek Cypriot takes Turkey to Court on missing husband and son

NICOSIA, 05/01/2002 (CNA/ANA)

The wife and mother of the two, Panayiota Pavlou Solomi, has filed an application to the Court against Ankara demanding investigation into the whereabouts of her husband and son, who was 17 at the time, and also claiming access to her property in the Turkish-occupied northern part of Cyprus. In an interview with CNA, she said a year after the invasion she personally handed a letter to Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash with all the details of her relatives' arrest and detention noted down and asked for their release. Despite Denktash's promises to help on this matter, she has heard no word from him in the past 28 years.

Her lawyer, Achilleas Demetriades, told CNA the application was filed on the basis of previous Court judgments with regard to the disappearance of Kurds in Turkey, the Fourth Interstate Application of Cyprus against Turkey for human rights violations and the case of Titina Loizidou, whose property rights, according to the Court, are being continuously violated by virtue of denying her access and offering no compensation.

The applicant, Demetriades explained, claims violation of five articles of the European Convention on Human Rights which refer to the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment, safeguard the right to freedom and security, respect of personal and family life, prohibit discrimination and protect the right to peaceful enjoyment of one's property.

The application was filed as peace talks on the protracted Cyprus question are due to begin in mid January but as Demetriades explained that discussions on property within the context of the talks has nothing to do with any individual claim to one's property.

In its judgment on the Loizidou case, the Court said that the fact that property rights were the subject of intercommunal talks is no justification for the "continuous denial of access and a purported expropriation without compensation."

In a painful recollection of her story, Solomi said that the Turks rounded up all the people from her village, Komi Kepir, on this east Mediterranean island's eastern tip, and led them to a nearby village for questioning. Many of the people who were involved in the arrests were Turkish Cypriots she knew, she said. Eventually the women and children were sent home, with the promise from the Turkish occupation forces that the rest would join them after further questioning.

"That was the last time I saw my husband and son, in the hands of the Turkish army, I have heard nothing about their fate and I am still waiting," she said with a lot of bitter feelings and anger for what has happened.

Solomi said in May 1975 as Denktash was visiting her village, she managed to give him a hand-written letter with the details of her husband's and son's arrest and names of Turkish Cypriots and others who dealt with them.

His promises to help locate and have them returned to her came to nothing, she told CNA, adding that she has written numerous letter to various heads of state, the UN and others seeking their assistance to find her relatives but to no avail.

Solomi's case is only one of many involving missing relatives. A three-member committee operating with UN approval in Cyprus has been involved in the issue of missing persons, Greek and Turkish Cypriots alike, for the past 20 years but so far its work has yielded no result.

The two sides have submitted about 2000 files on their respective missing to the Committee of Missing Persons.

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