Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 97-10-14

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 14/10/1997 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Athens to protest Turkish actions over Aegean
• Cyprus President Clerides meets with PM Simitis in Athens
• Turkish air space violations continue today
• Greece to tighten up on spending
• Simitis to visit Albania tomorrow
• Athens hosts SE Europe Parliament summit
• Navy chief of staff visits Romania
• Pharmaceutical firm threatens to withdraw products
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Greece reacted strongly today to continuing infringements of Athens' FIR and violations of Greek air space by Turkish fighter planes, and is to lodge a demarche with Turkey and brief ambassadors of all European Union member states in Athens as well as the US Charge d'Affaires, according to government spokesman Dimitris Reppas.

Reppas said the frequency and regularity of the violations over the last two days indicated that Turkey had made a political choice to create tension in the region.

However, he added, this did not offer Turkey any advantage, but simply showed its lack of willingness to normalise its relations with Greece. It also showed that Turkey felt itself to be at a disadvantage, he said.

Commenting on the buzzing by Turkish air force planes of a Greek transport carrying Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos to Cyprus yesterday evening, Reppas replied:

"It is childish for the Turks to believe that they can annoy the Greek defence minister in this way... this behaviour of Turkey's is anything but honourable."

Asked to comment on statements by US presidential envoy Richard Holbrooke yesterday that he had gained a positive view of Turkey's positions in his talks with the Turkish leadership, the spokesman said the US official had his own yardstick to judge by and that Greece had no way of knowing if any euphoria Holbrooke may have expressed was justified.

Meanwhile, Reppas said he did not believe reports that said Turkish planes were flying over Cyprus with live ammunition, but if the reports were indeed true, then it was a most unfortunate choice on the part of Turkey and one which created many dangers.

"We would like to believe that the Turkish military would not go that far," he said.

Finally, referring to a report that Denmark had signed an accord with Turkey for the supply of military equipment in the event of a crisis, Reppas said that the report was being investigated, but emphasised that if it were true, then it would be an important issue.

Cyprus President Clerides meets with PM Simitis in Athens

Prime Minister Costas Simitis and Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides met this morning in Athens to discuss the Cyprus issue, while Simitis commented on Greece's relations with Turkey in view of the repeated air space violations over the past few days during Greek and Cypriot military exercises in the southeastern Aegean.

Simitis said that meetings held since July between Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash had not been successful due to the continued intransigence of the Turkish side, although he said one would have expected them to alter their policy, particularly in view of developments in Europe.

The prime minister reiterated Greece and Cyprus' two main goals, which were the resolution of the Cyprus problem according to UN resolutions and Cyprus' accession to the European Union.

At the same time, he added, Cyprus will continue to bolster its defences. The joint defence doctrine, he said, continues to hold with regard to Greece's relations with the Cypriot Republic.

If there was no progress towards solving the Cyprus issue, continued the prime minister, and if President Clerides' proposal for the demilitarisation of Cyprus was not accepted, "there will be difficulties, and these difficulties should be avoided".

Simitis said he expected "significant developments" over the next few months, particularly with regard to Cyprus' accession negotiations with the EU.

Referring to relations between Turkey and the EU, Simitis reiterated that Turkey will have to take decisive steps.

"It isn't possible for Turkey to want to develop a special relationship with the EU and not to recognise fundamental rules of international law," said the prime minister.

He added that there could be no normalisation of Greek-Turkish relations without a just and viable solution to the Cyprus issue. He urged all countries that wanted peace and stability in the region to support efforts being made within the framework of the United Nations.

Meanwhile, commenting on the current Greek military exercise "Toxotis" and the concurrent Cypriot exercise "Nikiforos", Simitis praised the "courage and preparedness" shown by the Greek air force over the last 24-hours in dealing with Turkish provocations.

He reiterated that Greece did not want tension or conflict with Turkey.

President Clerides expressed his thanks for Greece's support with regard to the Cyprus issue, accession to the EU, demilitarisation proposal and in the effort to strengthen Cyprus' defence capability.

He also echoed Simitis' praise for the Greek air force pilots in intercepting Turkish fighter planes during the current exercises.

Asked to comment on a statement by US presidential envoy Richard Holbrooke that the exercises were a waste of money, he said that Holbrooke would be right if there were no threat from Turkey, if there were not 35,000-40,000 Turkish soldiers in Cyprus.

Otherwise, he added, the Cypriot Republic was obliged not only to continue with the exercises but also with arming itself.

He also drew attention to his proposal to demilitarise the island, observing that Turkey was free to agree to this proposal.

Finally, President Clerides reiterated that he expected substantial developments in the Cyprus issue after the Cypriot presidential elections in February next year.

Turkish air space violations continue today

Turkish warplanes continued to infringe Athens and Nicosia Flight Information Region (FIR) regulations today, over the area south-southeast of Rhodes, Greek defence ministry sources said.

The sources said the Turkish jetfighters were intercepted by Greek Airforce F-16s, F-1s and Mirage-2000s, while some instances developed into aerial dogfights.

Greece to tighten up on spending

Greece's 1998 budget will slash spending but leave taxation mostly intact, National Economy and Finance Minister Yannos Papantoniou told reporters.

"The budget will be daring over spending and conservative over taxes," Papantoniou said.

He was speaking after a meeting on the budget with Prime Minister Costas Simitis, Finance Undersecretaries George Drys and Nikos Christodoulakis, National Economy Undersecretary Christos Pachtas, and the premier's financial advisor, Tassos Yannitsis.

Papantoniou said he had no new information to relay on the budget, which is currently being drafted and has to be submitted to parliament by November 30.

Simitis to visit Albania tomorrow

Prime Minister Costas Simitis is to visit Albania tomorrow, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas announced today.

Mr. Simitis is to return to Athens in time to answer questions in parliament in the early evening.

Athens hosts SE Europe Parliament summit

A two-day meeting of the presidents of parliament from the countries of southeastern Europe opens in Athens on Wednesday, the first top-level meeting of the parliaments of the region.

Greek parliament president Apostolos Kaklamanis, who initiated the meeting, said such initiatives contributed to and strengthened Greece's role as a positive factor in the region and also reinforced regional cooperation.

He said regional cooperation had benefited the common interests through exchanges of views and the setting up of bodies with decisive authorities at political as well as economic level. In addition, he added, sideline meetings were scheduled with the poartliament presidents of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and FYROM.

Kaklamanis will open the meeting with an address, followed by his counterparts.

Prime Minister Costas Simitis will deliver a greeting to the meeting on Thursday, while Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos will also address the parliament presidents.

The meeting will be attended by the parliament presidents of Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, FYROM, Romania, Croatia and Slovenia, with observers from the parliamentary assemblies of international organisations.

The president of the Turkish parliament had also been invited, but was unable to attend.

Navy chief of staff visits Romania

The Navy Chief of Staff Vice-Admiral Leonidas Paliogiorgos is to make an official courtesy visit to Romania from tomorrow until October 18, it was announced today.

Vice-Admiral Paliogiorgos is returning a visit by his Romanian counterpart to Athens.

Pharmaecutical firm threatens to withdraw products

Boehringer Ingelheim Hellas, the Greek subsidiary of the German pharmaceutical company, has announced it will be forced to withdraw a number of its products following a decision by the Greek government to set ceilings on retail prices.

The company said it was withdrawing eight products, including cough suppressants, pain killers, analgesics and multi-vitamins, out of total of 33 products.

A spokesman of the company said the eight products accounted for 80 percent of the company's turnover and 176 percent of its annual profits.

He warned that the new drug policy pursued by the government was undermining the future of the company's activities in Greece.

The Hellenic Pharmaceuticals Organisation reacted strongly to the industry's statement, saying that no company had the right to decide before first consulting state authorities.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

(M.P.)

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