Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 97-10-16
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 16/10/1997 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Turkish planes buzz defence minister's plane again
- Greece to brief US, EU on Turkish violations - FM
- Peace prizewinners urge reconciliation
- PM, FM call for more cooperation in SE Europe
- SE European Parliaments wind up summit
- New report out on Greek tax system
- Weather
- Foreign Exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Turkish planes buzz defence minister's plane again
Two Turkish F-16 fighter planes again buzzed a military C-130 bringing
National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos back to Greece today from
Cyprus, defence ministry sources said.
Greek F-16s accompanying Tsohatzopoulos' military transport plane, which
was headed for Souda airbase on Crete, immediately intercepted the Turkish
fighters, which approached the C-130 at a distance of one mile, the sources
said.
They said two other Turkish F-16s infringed the Athens Flight Information
Region (FIR) this morning and were also intercepted by Greek jetfighters.
Turkish jetfighters had on October 13 buzzed the C-130 taking Tsohatzopoulos
to Cyprus to observe the final phase of the Cypriot national guard's
"Nikiforos" exercise in which Greek units were also taking part.
Tsohatzopoulos himself had shrugged off the October 13 incident, saying:
"It appears that the Turkish pilots need training. We have no objection to
training them."
Arriving in Souda, Tsohatzopoulos condemned Turkey as "an international
troublemaker which uses Cold War methods".
He called on Ankara to wake up to the fact that such methods were not
compatible with its efforts to come closer to Europe.
In addition to the first pair of Turkish aircraft which approached the
plane carrying Tsohatzopoulos, which were immediately intercepted by the
Greek fighters escorting the C-130, another pair of Turkish F-16 jets
infringed the Athens FIR.
This second pair was also intercepted by Greek aircraft flying in the
greater region.
Asked to comment on statements yesterday by Turkey's military chief,
General Ismail Hakki Karadayi, Tsohatzopoulos said they confirmed that the
neighbouring country faced no threat from Greece or Cyprus.
Karadayi said Ankara's numerical military superiority made the result of
any conflict with Greece a foregone conclusion.
Tsohatzopoulos added that in the case of Greece and Turkey, history had
shown how numerical superiority had been confronted.
Greece to brief US, EU on Turkish violations - FM
Asked to comment on the harassment by Turkish warplanes of the aircraft
carrying Tsohatzopoulos for the second time, Foreign Minister Theodoros
Pangalos said that the second incident occurred "for reasons which we can
trace".
"Quantity creates quality," he added ironically.
Pangalos reiterated that Greece would brief the ambassadors of the European
Union and the United States in Athens concerning the recent increase in the
number of violations of Greece airspace and infringements of the Athens FIR
by Turkish warplanes.
"We have long since diagnosed the problem. It is a problem which Turkey has
with the civilised world, which cannot continue for much longer without
consequences," Pangalos said.
Replying to other questions, Pangalos said discussion at the Balkan Summit
on Crete would focus on the economic situation in the Balkan countries,
their infrastructure and the development of good neighbourly relations.
Concerning the forthcoming Simitis-Yilmaz meeting on Crete, Pangalos said
the Greek premier would meet with his Turkish counterpart just as he would
be doing with the other Balkan leaders.
"Keep cool, guys" he told the reporters present.
Peace prizewinners urge reconciliation
Meanwhile, distinguished personalities from Greece who have received
special "Ipekci" awards have sent a letter to the prime ministers of Greece
and Turkey, Costas Simitis and Mesut Yilmaz, in view of their meeting in
Crete in early November on the sidelines of the Balkan summit.
The bi-annual Ipekci Awards, alternately hosted in Athens and Istanbul,
were established following a Greek initiative in February 1979, shortly
after the assassination of Abdi Ipekci, an editor who worked for the
Turkish daily "Milliyet".
The awards are given to Greeks and Turks in recognition of efforts to
promote Greek-Turkish friendship and co-operation.
In the letter, the award recipients express their concern over the
exacerbation of the climate of Greek-Turkish relations and urge the two
premiers to "revitalise, with a sincere approach, the agreement of
principles signed in Madrid" and to restore conditions which will allow
progress in relations between the two states and peoples.
The nine signatories stress that they have for many years supported
Turkey's European course and efforts to join the European Union, noting
that this course is now favoured by the biggest political parties in
Greece.
PM, FM call for more cooperation in SE Europe
Prime Minister Costas Simitis today called for long-term efforts on the
part of the European Union and the U.S. for confrontation of the problems
faced by the countries of southeastern Europe, and also avoidance of a
return to the past antagonism among states.
Addressing the final session of a two-day meeting of parliament presidents
from the countries of southeastern Europe hosted in Athens at Greek
initiative, Simitis also praised the role national parliaments could play
in promoting cooperation and cementing peace through dialogue among them
and in their contacts with the European Parliament.
He said the challenges faced by the countries of SE Europe in the new era
were globalisation of the economy and the political system, the "transitionality"
in the region and in world developments, with the lack of certainty over
the proposed policies, and the prospect of destabilisation of the
situation.
In that framework, Simitis said, constant seeking with respect to the role
of the state, the economy and institutions, education, developmental and
social policy were necessary because "stagnation means defeat, and we
cannot return to the past".
Regarding the "fragility" of the balances in the region, he stressed the
role of international organisations and treaties, which "must be an
inalienable component in solving differences".
Simitis said the decisions taken in the framework of the EU and NATO, with
the countries of the region desiring membership in them, and linking the
Europe of the "centre" with that of the "periphery", which was being
effected through road, communications and other networks in addition to the
political corridors, were the two parametres that completed the picture.
"We must take decisions and initiatives in accordance with the principles
of international law. This is why Greece takes initiatives that promote
cooperation," Simitis said, citing interbalkan summit and ministerial
meetings convened in Greece, and the economic and technological assistance
it provides to neighbouring countries which is "removed from the old
perception" of satellite countries.
Simitis stressed the need for the EU to forge a commong political
confrontation of the problems faced by the European countries of the former
east bloc with long-term goals. Naturally, he added, "the U.S. also has a
responsibility for the development of those states, since its oil interests
in the region have decisive gravity".
The Premier underscored the importance of the Parliaments of the region in
"escaping from the past" and in promoting and consolidating democracy in
the countries of SE Europe, considering a necessity dialogue in the
framework of the parliaments for the forging of new policies, contacts
among them, and the expansion of their relations with the Europarliament in
order to make clear Europe's responsibility for its region.
Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos, addressing the same meeting, said
Balkan cooperation was a new "institution" that would be ratified at next
month's Balkan summit on Crete.
Pangalos said that even during the Cold War period, "enlightened leaders
introduced in the Balkans tendencies of self-rule and discovery of a course
of cooperaton, which in turn contributed to the disintegration of the
blocs".
Today, he said, the peoples had unprecedented prospects for cooperation,
and it would be a shame if those prospects were not taken advantage
of.
"The new reality will survive, because the overwhelming majority of our
peoples want peace and progress. Any leader who does not keep this in mind
will be harshly punished by the popular verdict," Pangalos warned.
Referring to upcoming Balkan summit, pangalos spoke of the "Spirit of
Crete" which was formulating a new regime of discussion "on all those
things that unite us, and not those that divide us".
"This message will be taken into consideration by all the business and
political circles in Europe and will comprise the best possible advertisement
for our region," Pangalos said.
SE European Parliaments wind up summit
The two-day meeting decided to set up a "Parliamentary Advisory Assembly".
According to the final resolution, the presidents of parliament will at
their next meeting decide on the conditions and framework for setting up
the assembly and assign the realisation of the plan to a working group.
During the meeting, the participants adopted almost in their entirety the
proposals submitted by Greece's House Speaker, Apostolos Kaklamanis,
concerning the principles, philosophy and practice of inter-parliamentary
dialogue.
As a result, among the conclusions of the meeting are that respect for
democratic freedoms and individual and human rights, as well as the
intensification of the process of democratisation in the countries of
southeastern Europe, are considered to be prerequisites for the consolidation
of peace and stability in the region.
Particular importance was also attached to "internationally accepted
principles of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
states, the inviolability of borders, the avoidance of the use of force,
the peaceful settlement of disputes, non-intervention in other countries'
domestic affairs, the development of co-operation and good-neighbour
relations, the safeguarding of human rights in all sectors and respect for
the rules of international law.
The resolution also underlines the European orientation of the states of
the region and contains a decision to formally establish dialogue between
the national assemblies by organising meetings of the presidents of the
region's parliaments on a regular and rotating basis.
The two-day meeting was attended by the presidents of parliament of Albania,
Shender Gjinushi, Greece, Apostolos Kaklamanis, Yugoslavia, Milomir Minic,
FYROM, Tito Petkovski, Romania, Petre Roman and Bulgaria, Yordan Sokolov.
Attending as observers were the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe, Leni Fischer, the President of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, Dumitru Motpan and the Vice
Chairman of the Assembly's Committee of the Western European Union (WEU) on
Parliamentary and Public Relations, Lord Russel-Johnston.
Addressing the meeting, Lord Russel Johnson, praised the overall initiative
and recommended that "small, careful steps" be taken initially in order for
inter-parliamentary dialogue to be substantial "so that valuable time is
not lost".
New report out on Greek tax system
A Greek government advisory committe headed by professor Yiannis Spraos
presented its proposals on the overhauling of the country's tax collection
mechanism, developing the state's huge assets and putting public finances
in order.
The report, the third in a row by the Spraos committee, is entitled "More
efficient administration of public revenue".
The committe did not propose the imposition of new taxes and stressed that
the state would suffer great loss of income if a demand for a indexation of
income tax scale is adopted by the government in the framework of a social
dialogue underway.
Referring to an expected decision by the European Court of Justice over
lower duties on imported second-hand cars, the committee said that any
negative impact could be offset with the adoption of environmental
protection measures.
The Spraos committee noted however that an anticipated loss of public
revenue from imported cars should have to be addressed by the government by
seeking other sources of income. This probably means a replacement in
import taxes with a series of new taxes.
The report stressed that the government could raise revenue through a rise
in tax scales, although prospects were limited due to an already high level
of tax scale in Greece.
The committee urged the government to intensify efforts to combat tax
evasion and informal economy, two factors contributing in maintaining the
state's huge deficits and the use of special taxes which burdened inflation
and harmed competitiveness.
WEATHER
Unstable weather with showers in many parts of the country will continue
today with a further drop in temperatures. Winds will be northerly
moderate. Athens will be partly cloudy with spells of sunshine and
temperatures between 15-20C. Thessaloniki will be cloudy and rainy with
temperatures from 9-15C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Wednesday's closing rates - buying US dlr. 273.643
Pound sterling 442.809 Cyprus pd 529.153
French franc 46.564 Swiss franc 186.952
German mark 156.096 Italian lira (100) 15.960
Yen (100) 225.560 Canadian dlr. 198.063
Australian dlr. 200.721 Irish Punt 442.809
Belgian franc 7.566 Finnish mark 52.080
Dutch guilder 138.568 Danish kr. 40.982
Swedish kr. 36.135 Norwegian kr. 38.738
Austrian sch. 22.174 Spanish peseta 1.851
Port. Escudo 1.536
(M.P.)
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