Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 97-05-05

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 05/05/1997 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• `Committee of experts` names to be announced this week
• Greece's Jewish holocaust victims honoured at ceremonies
• PASOK party meeting to focus on Greek-Turkish relations
• Defence Minister on official visit to Warsaw
• UN invitation for Greek and Turkish Cypriots meeting denied
• Ethnic Greek schools slowly opening up in Gjirokaster
• Sixty-five dead in road accidents since April 24
• Public works for Epirus announced
• Weather
• Greek first division soccer results
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

The official announcement of individuals who will compose the so-called "committee of experts" is expected to be the first move on the part of both Athens and Ankara, and will likely take place in the next few days.

The meetings of the committee will start immediately afterwards and will be aimed at, according to initial planning, preparing a joint report on processes proposed to resolve Greek-Turkish problems.

The Dutch EU presidency announced last week the decision by Greece and Turkey to appoint a committee of experts each.

Turkish diplomat Sukru Elegtag and jurist Suat Bilge are reportedly Ankara's representatives. On the part of Greece, the names of the professors Dimitris Fatouros and Costas Ioannou are being discussed.

What is of primary importance is an agreement on the processes on handling the issues of the Imia islets and the continental shelf of the eastern Aegean through the international court at The Hague.

Greece, which is steadfastly pursuing this path, is widely expected to raise these issues with the committee. According to all indications,the European Union's member-states also agree with Greek positions and would be pleased to see Turkey consenting to having these issues examined by the international court at The Hague. European governments have on many occasions urged Turkey since the Im ia crisis broke out in January 1996 to move in this direction, but were either met with Ankara's negative stance or its reservations.

The Greek government, as was also ascertained during the inner cabinet meeting last Friday, will not negotiate the country's sovereign rights, replying in this way to concern expressed by the opposition in recent days.

Special reference was made to Greece's right to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles. According to reports publicised this week, Turkish Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller had requested from Greece at the EU- Turkey Association Council in Luxenbourg to make a statement that Athens waived this right, in order to enable Ankara to withdraw its threats of war. The Greek government refused to make such a statement.

Developments in past weeks have shown that two new factors have surfaced. Firstly, that a new climate has been created between Greece and Turkey. The meetings and talks between the two countries' foreign ministers and contacts between officials of the t wo governments are taking place in a very good climate. Turkey, and even its military leaders, are avoiding to use harsh words in referring to Greece.

The reason for this is known. Greece, in contrast to major powers in the EU, has stated that Turkey's position is in Europe and this has created positive reactions in the neighbouring country.

The second factor concerns the position observed by Greece's EU partners. In recent times both smaller and larger EU countries have approached Greek positions more than in the past and this is due to the briefing campaign started by the government since the beginning of the year.

It is also due to the fact that the dialogue process which has started between Greece and Turkey has highlighted the just arguments of Greece to a great degree in connection with the Aegean and Greek-Turkish problems in their entirety.

Greece's Jewish holocaust victims honoured at ceremonies

The Jewish victims from Thessaloniki that died in Nazi concentration camps during World War II were honoured by the city's Jewish community yesterday in the presence of several government officials, deputies and representatives of local government.

During a memorial ceremony at the Monastirioton synagogue, six concentration camp survivors lit six candles for the Jewish victims that were exterminated in the Nazi camps.

Earlier, the president of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki, Andrea Sefiha, lit a symbolic candle for the approximately 50,000 Jews from Thessaloniki who perished at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen.

Addressing the ceremony on behalf of the government, Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos said the ceremony was a "resurgent denunciation of racism and xenophobia."

Mr. Venizelos referred to the Jewish population's contribution to the economic, political and cultural development of Thessaloniki from the time of the Apostle Paul to the present.

Jews consider Thessaloniki a holy city since thousands of their Sephardic ancestors took refuge in the capital of Macedonia after being driven out of Spain in 1492.

According to a census conducted in 1940, Jews living in Thessaloniki amounted to 49,000, but in 1945 they did not exceed 1,950. The total number of Jews led to concentration camps amounted to 46,061. Some 86 per cent of Jews living in Greece before Worl d War II were exterminated, raising the number of Jewish victims all throughout Greece to 67,151.

The Jewish community of Athens yesterday also honoured the Jewish victims of WWII. A ceremony was held at the Athens Third Cemetery.

Also present were Public Order Minister George Romeos, who represented the government, and representations from political parties and the cultural world.

PASOK party meeting to focus on Greek-Turkish relations

Greek-Turkish relations and the issue of social dialogue are the primary issues to be discussed at government and ruling PASOK party meetings, while Prime Minister Costas Simitis will chair his party's political secretariat today to discuss issues of domestic and foreign policy.

Mr. Simitis will also chair an Executive Bureau meeting to discuss the course of national issues and internal policy issues, focusing primarily on social dialogue. The Executive Bureau will also discuss PASOK's plan of action over the next two months. A ccording to reports, another issue expected to be discussed are the archives of PASOK's founder Andreas Papandreou.

The Executive Bureau members will discuss details of an event to be organised by PASOK on June 22 to honour the memory of Andreas Papandreou, in which Mr. Simitis will be the main speaker.

The meeting of PASOK's Parliamentary group on Wednesday is of particular interest. According to reports, Mr. Simitis is expected to reply to criticism over the government's domestic policy, and primarily that concerning social dialogue, and to those expressing concern over Greek- Turkish relations, particularly in the wake of the decision to set up a "committee of experts".

In a recent joint statement, 32 PASOK deputies have expressed objections over the prospect of a Greek-Turkish dialogue because this could mean the legalisation of Turkish claims against Greece, which the government does not accept and has stated that th ere is no question of negotiating sovereign rights.

In a related development, Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos will brief Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Secretary General Aleka Papariga on the course of Greek-Turkish relations today.

Defence Minister on official visit to Warsaw

National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos left for Warsaw yesterday on an official visit at the invitation of his Polish counterpart.

Mr. Tsohatzopoulos was due to attend a dinner given in his honour by the Polish minister last night.

The two ministers and respective delegations will have official talks this morning. Mr. Tsohatzopoulos will then meet Polish Foreign Minister D. Rozati, lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and hold talks with the Polish government's vice-pre sident.

UN invitation for Greek and Turkish Cypriots meeting denied

An announcement on Saturday by the office of Foreign Undersecretary Yiannos Kranidiotis stated that "during yesterday's (Friday's) inner cabinet meeting, the foreign undersecretary briefed its members on developments over the Cyprus issue.

"However, it is not true that Mr. Kranidiotis mentioned that there was an invitation by the (UN) secretary general to the two sides for a meeting as soon as the (UN-sponsored) proximity dialogue is completed," as it had been reported.

In Nicosia, Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides also denied that he had received such an invitation, saying he did not expect an invitation at the time.

Ethnic Greek schools slowly opening up in Gjirokaster

Ethnic Greek schools are slowly beginning to fully operate again in the Gjirokaster area. The turnout of pupils is still limited, while staff and school equipment are also in short supply.

Lessons are difficult at the elementary school in Gjirokaster as the building has sustained serious damage, while attending pupils run the risk of being attacked on their way to and from class.

Today has been set as the final date for the reopening of compulsory education schools.

Sixty-five dead in road accidents since April 24

Road accidents throughout Greece from April 24 until yesterday claimed 65 fatalities, including 100 serious injuries.

Some 516 traffic accidents were recorded. According to officials, the death toll for the Easter holiday was the worst to date.

Public works for Epirus announced

Public works for Epirus, budgeted at 462 billion drachmas, were announced by Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis in Ioannina on Saturday.

Mr. Laliotis said that the Egnatia Highway across the north of Greece should be completed by 2000.

He said six sections of the highway were already under construction, another six were soon to be contracted out, while plans for another eight sections were progressing.

The minister said funding for all projects had been secured.

"Epirus in the 21st century can and should play a leading role in developments in Europe and the Balkans," he said.

According to a recent Eurostat bulletin, Epirus ranked among the regions of the European Union with a GDP per capita of less than 50 per cent of the EU average.

WEATHER

Greek first division soccer results

Pyrgos-Olympiakos 0-5 AEK-PAOK Thessaloniki 1-2 Aris Thessaloniki-OFI Crete 1-2 Kavala-Panathinaikos 0-4 Ionikos Piraeus-Kastoria 5-1 Edessa-Heraklis Thessaloniki 3-4 Athinaikos-Apollon Athens 3-2 Xanthi-Veria 3-2 Panahaiki Patras-Kalamata 0-0

Standings: Olympiakos 75 pts AEK 66 OFI 62 Panathinaikos 57 PAOK 57 Kavala 52 Pyrgos 44

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

(C.E.)

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