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Antenna News in English 100996
News in English, of 10/09/1996
TITLES
- The Greek prime minister's letter about Iraq to the US
president.
- How the candidates stack up according to the
latest polls.
- And, Antenna's president comes to the aid of a
poverty-stricken family.
LETTER
Prime minister Kostas Simitis says there should be
one rule of thumb when it comes to international
relations: respect international borders.
In a letter of reply to US president Bill Clinton,
Mr Simitis says he hopes the current crisis in Iraq
will be wrapped up in accordance with UN directives
and in keeping with international law.
In his letter, Mr Clinton had explained American policy toward
Iraq, asked Mr Simitis and
other European Union leaders to show understanding
for Turkey's interests in the area. He had also asked the EU to
recognise Turkey's role as a stabilising force in the Middle
East.
In his reply to Mr Clinton, Mr Simitis offers a
different perspective.
The Greek leader says, "Since I received your letter, there has
been confirmation of Turkey's decision to create a security zone
in Iraq along its border with Iraq. This is worrying. It has a
direct destabilising effect on the region, overturns principles
of international law, and circumvents UN
decisions. It sets a danagerous precedent", continues the Greek
leader. And adds,
"Greece considers it essential that the
territorial integrity of nations in the region
be respected as they have been determined by
long-standing international agreements and
treaties. Especially since Greece has recently
had its territorial rights questioned by
Turkey. Turkey doubts the 1923 Treaty of
Lausanne, which determines Turkey's borders from
the Black Sea to the eastern Aegean, and extends
to Iraq and Iran. Greece understands the need to
defend Turkey's rights to the extent that they
are embodied in international treaties, and so
long as the rights of other nations are also
borne in mind. That's the only way to ensure
stability".
Mr Simitis concludes that he is certain that the
principles outlined in his reply to Mr Clinton
serve the common Greek and American goals of
promoting stability and defending the interests
of the western democracies.
POLLS
Pasok and New Democracy both say they're confident
of victory on September 22nd. But the numbers say
otherwise in two polls just published.
A PRC poll conducted for the daily Ta Nea reflects
the results of an MRB survey carried out for a major TV station.
The TV station survey puts New Democracy
half a percentage point ahead of Pasok, with both
parties carrying around 30 per cent of the voters.
As you can see, the PRC poll shows Pasok slightly
ahead, but the error margin means it's anybody's
guess who, if anyone, is on top.
Of the other parties listed in the PRC poll, the Left Coalition,
which failed to win a seat in
parliament in the last electons, is top, with 5.3 per cent of the
ovters.
The new Pasok breakaway party Democratic Movement is right there
with it, at 5.2 per cent. Indeed, in the MRB survey, Democratic
Movement is ahead of all the other small parties. Party leader
Dimitris Tsovolas left Pasok to set up the party, because he was
unhappy with its economic austerity
policies.
Now, Tsovolas is confiedent. He says his supporters won't be
drawn back to Pasok with the argument that a vote for him is
effectively a vote for New Democracy.
As for New Democracy members, they say they're confident their
party is surging ahead.
MP Stavros Dimas says, "We're on our way up.
Today, we're much further ahead than the numbers
showed at the beginning of the month. Mr
Simitis's so-called new Pasok is faltering.
Greeks want a government able to work for them".
Defence minister Gerasimos Arsenis says the government is
unconcerned by the surveys. "Our poll is the contact we have
with the people", he says. "And that poll shows we're doing very
well".
Both polls show Political Spring, third in the last national
elections, is in a slump. PRC puts it in the gutter with a 4.1
per cent vote share.
But Spring leader Antonis Samaras says the polls
are phony. His spokesman, Niktas Kaklamanis says
the people behind the polls are trying to stop
Political Spring's rise with fake survey results.
SIMITIS
As they race toward election Sunday, the candidates are stepping
up their campaign stumping.
The prime minister has been up north.
In Iannena, Mr Simitis said Pasok means stability, certainty and
progress. He urged all voters, young and old, to get to the
voting stations on election day. Pasok needs a large
parliamentary majority, he added, so it can work fast and
effectively in putting through the legislation needed to help the
economy and solve the country's other problems. Mr Simitis added
that this is the election when Greece will choose between a
Greece determined to play an
important role in the Balkans and the EU, a
Greece with a proper welfare state; and a
conservative, inward-looking Greece, isolated
on the international stage.
At a rally in Serres on Sunday, Mr Simitis defended his fiscal
policies against charges that they're hard on working people.
Pasok, he said, is the party that is showing solidarity with
working people through its policies.
Making a play for undecided voters, the premier asked
rhetorically: if New Democracy government takes power, will its
financial policies be worker-
friendly?
Prime minister Kostas Simitis said if re-elected,
he'll take some tough steps, like curbing
public-sector hiring, and eliminating unjustified tax
breaks. Getting the national financial house in
order is called economic stabilisation, and Mr
Simitis is committed to it.
But he's also committed to social peace and
solidarity. In Thessaloniki also said he'll give
wage-earners inflation-pegged raises. He
believes the inflation rate will be 8.2 per
cent at the end of this year.
Mr Simitis was optimistic about the future of the
eocnomy, and pleased with what his government has
achieved so far.
Pasok's policies have been a recipe for success,
he says, and he aims to continue them.
In Greece's second city, Mr Simitis took a shot at
the economic programme of his main opponent in the
upcoming election, New Democracy 's Miltiades Evert.
Once again, he accused Evert of campaigning on a
pork barrel: promising to hand out money left and
right if he's elected - thus destroying the
economy. He asked Evert to explain where he plans
to find the 3.5 billion dollars his tax relief
plans for farmers and the middle class self-
employed would cost the nation.
For the first time, the premier also attacked
Democratic Movement leader Dimitris Tsovolas, who
left Pasok last year, when the late Andreas
Papandreou was still at the helm.
Weekend polls show Tsovolas could pull in 5 to 6
per cent of the votes. Mr Simitis said in
Thessaloniki that Tsovolas is responsible for
having split Pasok, the progressive party. The
consequence of Tsovolas's departure from Pasok,
he added, is to help New Democracy, whether
Tsovolas intends to or not.
CAMPAIGN/EVERT
New Democracy leader Miltiades Evert has also been campaigning up
north. In Karditsa, he told the crowd at a rally, "It's time for
work". That's the motto of Evert, who says Pasok has been a
do-nothing government.
Evert said there's too much wasteful spending in government, and
that government ministers pretty much do what they want.
Enough, he told the crowd. It's time for a
government that will work for the Greek people.
Amid shouts of enthusiasm, the New Democracy leader said there
are solutions to the country's
problems, as long as government ministers take
an interest in the people after the elections,
as they do before the elections.
He said his party is united and determined to help Greeks to a
better life.
EVERT WITH DEANS
Miltiades Evert discussed the problems of higher
education with university deans on Monday.
Evert slammed the government for its handling of
the problems of the country's universities. The
opposition leader said, "Unfortunately, many
students missed their exam periods because the
government couldn't find the cash to keep the
universities working during exam time. Yet, the
government gave found 70 million dollars to pour
into advertisements of the country's public works
projects", added Evert.
Evert said the country's universities need to be
freed of government control. The universities
need economic and administrative autonomy,
because they know how to run their own affairs better than the
education ministry does.
CYPRUS
Turkish attempts to use the shooting death of a
Turkish soldier to sully the name of free Cyprus, have failed.
The two soldiers were shot at a Turkish sentry
post along the island's neutral zone near the village of
Acheritou, across from territory under British command.
The shootings come just a month after the brutal murder of two
unarmed Greek-Cypriot protestors in the neutral zone. Those
video-taped killings were broadcast around the world, setting
Turkey back in the eyes of international public opinion.
After the shootings of the Turkish soldiers, Ankara was quick to
try to gain back lost ground. Blaming the Greek-Cypriots,
Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash said the shootings had been
in reprisal for the deaths of the two Greek-Cypriots.
But the British authorities say the shots fired
at the Turks came from within Turkish-occupied
territory, not from the Greek-Cypriot side.
That would appear to corroborate the Cypriot
authorities assertion several days ago, that an
act of Turkish provocation, involving the murder of Turks or
Turkish-Cypriots, and designed to
make the Greek-Cypriots look bad, was about to unfold.
Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis said Greek-Cypriot soldiers
had nothing to do with Sunday's shooting. Responding to Turkish
foreign minister Tansu Ciller's attempt to use the incident as
eveidence of Greek aggression, Mr Simitis said, there is no
Greek aggression in Cyprus, just Turkish
barbarism, as evidenced by the merciless killings
of the two Greek-Cypriots in August.
KYRIAKOU
Antenna president Minos Kyriakou has come to the aid of a family
living in desperate poverty. Antenna television brought the
plight of an 11-member family living in a wooden shed under a
bridge in Chalkida to public attention.
Hundreds of Greeks have already phoned in to make a deposit in
the bank account set up by Mr Kyriakou to help the family. Mr
Kyriakou himself made a deposit of 20 thousand dollars. The
Ionian Bank account number is 090-317-00-639.
Maria Sourla is appealing to the country's political
leaders to help her nine children and her husband, disabled by a
stroke.
To help them out of the poverty trap.
Before Mr Kyriakou opened the bank account, the family had
nothing more to live on than her husband's 100-dollar monthly
pension - that's about 10 dollars a month for each family member.
“I want a home", one of the children says. The nearest school is
to far away for the kids to attend. One of the youngsters says,
"I want to go to school". The kids also lack clothing, and often
have to sleep on an empty stomach.
SOCCER
Turning to sports, and the first week of
premier division soccer, defending champ
Panathinaikos picked up where it left off last
season, beating Kalamata 3-nil.
Ofi of Crete also wins its season opener, stopping
Pasok 3-1.
Other victors over the weekend, Ionikos and Paniliakos, both
playing on their home turf.
Iraklis, Kavala, and Aris play to draws on their
home grounds. Powerhouse Aek will be disappointed with that
result against little Kavala.
There's one winner on the road, as Panachaiki gets
past Edessaikos, 2-1.
© ANT1-Radio 1996
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