Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 97-10-07

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 07/10/1997 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Defence, foreign ministries coordinate ahead of meetings
• Turkish official's comments nothing new
• Foreign ministry investigates leaks to press
• Dutch royal couple begin official visit
• Injunction slapped on Athens Metro work
• Police arrest 33 Bulgarian illegal immigrants
• British hiker killed in Crete
• Tanker runs aground
• Patras dyslexia group to collaborate with Canadian university
• Weather
• Foreign Exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos chaired a meeting today aimed at improving co-ordination between his ministry and the Foreign Ministry in view of forthcoming meetings which he and Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos are to have at the level of NATO, the Western European Union (WEU) and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The meeting, attended also by Foreign Undersecretary Yiannos Kranidiotis, focused on changes in NATO and co-operation between European countries within the framework of arms systems monitoring committees.

Replying to press questions concerning confidence-building measures between Greece and Turkey in view of reports of a meeting in Brussels on Friday between NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana and representatives of the two countries, Tsohatzopoulos said it constituted the continuation of a dialogue which was interrupted during the summer following Turkey's rejection of proposals submitted by Greece.

Asked about fresh proposals reportedly being put forward by Solana, Tsohatzopoulos said Athens would wait until they had been formally submitted before taking a stance.

Turkish official's comments nothing new

Tsohatzopoulos was also asked to comment on statements by Turkish State Minister Sukru Sina Gurel in an interview with a New York newspaper, in which he spoke of islands and islets in the Aegean which he claimed had no identity.

Gurel said also that Greece and Turkey should "share" the Aegean.

Reiterating that the Turkish leadership from time to time expressed "hidden desires" which were not worth commenting on, Tsohatzopoulos said:

"This is old food which has been warmed up. It bears no relation to reality and confirms Turkey's role as an international destabilising factor in the region."

Tsohatzopoulos stressed that the situation in the Aegean was crystal clear and once again called on Turkey to respect existing international treaties and international law.

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas meanwhile dismissed Gurel's statements as "the manifestation of an ongoing Turkish aberration".

"All this shows that Turkey lacks the will to create good relations with Greece. It would appear that Ankara does not want good relations with Athens," he said.

The spokesman observed that Gurel's statements were also to the detriment of Turkey, since they exposed Ankara in the eyes of international public opinion "because they reveal that Turkey does not want dialogue".

If the issue were not so serious, Reppas continued, it would be too absurd even to talk about.

"All these matters being raised by Turkish officials can never be the subject of any type of discussion," he added.

Foreign ministry investigates leaks to press

The Foreign Ministry announced today that it had ordered an official inquiry into the publication in Sunday's edition of "To Vima" of a document which had been sent by Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos to Prime Minister Costas Simitis' diplomatic office.

The document was sent by Pangalos from New York and concerned the talks he was having with his Turkish counterpart, Ismail Cem, on the sidelines of the recent UN General Assembly.

The issue was raised yesterday during the daily news briefing by government spokesman Dimitris Reppas, who was asked why "To Vima" was not being prosecuted, given that reporters of the Athens daily "Eleftheros Typos" had in a similar case in the past been charged with espionage.

In an announcement, the ministry said it had repeatedly condemned attempts by journalists to intercept documents which are not made public by the competent services.

The ministry reiterated that employees found to be accomplices in such activities would be severely punished.

Dutch royal couple begin official visit

Queen Beatrix and Prince Klaus of the Netherlands arrived here today to begin a three-day official visit at the invitation of Greece's head of state President Kostis Stephanopoulos.

The royal couple, who flew to Athens from Corfu where they spent the night, are scheduled to meet with Stephanopoulos in the presence of the foreign ministers of the two countries.

They will later attend an official luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Costas Simitis.

Queen Beatrix and Prince Klaus are the first royal couple to visit Greece since 1968, when King Baudouin of Belgium paid a similar visit.

The couple were given a very warm welcome by Stephanopoulos and the government.

A red carpet was placed along the length of the street in front of the presidential mansion and the official reception began at 12 noon with the national anthems of the two countries.

Stephanopoulos and the royal couple then inspected a guard of honour formed by members of the elite presidential guard in traditional dress.

The couple were also welcomed by Simitis and his wife, Daphne, Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos, Press and Media Minister Dimitris Reppas, Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos, representatives of the armed forces headed by the Chief of the National Defence General Staff, General Athanasios Tzoganis.

Among the Dutch officials attending the ceremony was Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo.

After the official reception, Stephanopoulos had a brief meeting with Queen Beatrix in his office. According to sources, the meeting provided an opportunity for an exchange of views on bilateral relations, the general situation in Europe and the Balkans.

This evening, Stephanopoulos will hold an official dinner in honour of the royal couple.

Injunction slapped on Athens Metro work

An Athens judge today ordered a 24-hour suspension of tunnel-boring for the Athens Metro under downtown Panepistimou street.

Judge Spyros Eftaxias said he had ordered suspension of the drilling until a court hearing tomorrow of an injunction request by 12 local shopowners.

The shopowners, in a complaint filed with the Athens First Instance Court, have asked for work on the Metro under Panepistimou street to be halted, claiming "danger from the frequent subsidences", which they said "become even more hazardous as additional underground cavities are encountered along the way".

The shopowners said they feared for their "lives, physical wellbeing and property".

They said Attika Metro officials, when addressed by the shopowners on the matter, had verbally asured them that there was no danger. But despite the assurances, the problems continued to exist they said, and cited an incident last week when a newsstand collapsed into a cavity opened up by the drilling.

The shopowners want a restraining order on drilling under Panepistimou street as well as a court-ordered study, at company expense, to be conducted by state engineers.

Earlier, Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis said Attiko Metro was "supervising the project in a serious and responsible manner, with the safety of the local residents in mind", and called for the problem that has arisen on Panepistimou street not be be exploited for "political or party expediencies".

Police arrest 33 Bulgarian illegal immigrants

Police in northern Greece believe they are on the track of a gang transporting illegal immigrants into Greece from Balkan countries, after discovering 33 Bulgarians in the rural area of Eleousa near Thessaloniki.

The 33 illegal immigrants had been transported in a truck but the unidentified gang members and the driver of a car accompanying the truck managed to escape.

The Bulgarians were arrested yesterday after police received a tip- off.

According to the police, the car belongs to Ioannis Evangelou and the truck to Maria Zeppa, both residents of Alexandria, Imathia, who are now wanted by the police for questioning.

The Bulgarians told the police that they had entered the country from the neighbouring Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and met with the Greek members of the gang next to the Axios River near the border.

They said they had agreed to each pay 300 German marks to be taken to various towns of Greece.

British hiker killed in Crete

A 66-year-old British hiker was found dead this morning in a ravine in Sfakia, southern Crete, by members of the Hania Trekking Club scouring the area, police said.

Robert Glentworth fell into the ravine Monday afternoon while hiking up a remote footpath at Yigilo with 14 other members of his mountaineer group.

An operation is presently underway to retrieve the body, at a depth of 80 metres in the ravine, police said.

Tanker runs aground

A Greek tanker has run aground in the shallows off Porto Lagos in northern Greece, Merchant Marine Ministry sources said today.

The "Voltag" had set sail from the port of Elefsis carrying 3,000 tons of crude oil headed for Porto Lagos when it ran aground yesterday afternoon, the sources said.

Patras dyslexia group to collaborate with Canadian university

The University of Patras will be collaborating with Canada's Saskatchewan University researcher C.K. Leong in the context of the Patras University dyslexia diagnostic unit's cooperation with universities abroad.

Leong, currently in Patras to discuss the collaboration, is internationally known for his research into the problem of dyslexia and other learning disorders

He will be collaborating with Patras university in the context of a Europe- wide netowrk of dyslexia centres operating at various European institutions of higher education.

The purpose of the centres is to exchange scientific information and carry out joint diagnostic research into the problem of dyslexia.

Patras University operates the only centre for the diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia in a Greek university. The unit is headed by Professor Constantine Porpodas.

The dyslexia unit will also soon be completing a pioneering method, using CD-ROM, for teaching the Greek language to children suffering from dyslexia and other learning disorders.

The University of Patras has also concluded the first inter-language study between its own dyslexia unit and that of London's Cambridge University, while similar studies are underway with Britain's Dundee University and Denmark's University of Copenhagen.

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