Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-11-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] Turkish war-jets harass civilian aircraft

[02] Gov't announces Erdogan visit on Nov. 18

[03] FM to meet with French, UK counterparts in coming days

[04] Greek-Turkish trade soared in the 1990s

[05] Greek tourism discuss next year's trends

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

[07] Weather Forecast: Rain, storms on Friday

[08] ASE ends lower, follows European markets' lead

[01] Turkish war-jets harass civilian aircraft

Turkish war-planes on Thursday harassed two civilian aircraft in the air corridor connecting Greece with Cyprus, at the border of the Larnaca and Athens Fight Information Region (FIR).

According to sources, 18 Turkish F16 in six formations infringed on Greek airspace over the islands of Samos and Hios, while in ten different instances they violated the Athens FIR.

Specifically, two Turkish F 16 war-jets, harassed the Olympic Airways flight 332 that took off from Larnaca and was bound for Athens, about 30 nautical miles west of Rhodes and at an altitude of 34,000 feet.

Ten minutes later, quite possibly the same pair of aircraft harassed Cyprus Airways flight 323 that took off from Athens and was bound for Larnaca, about 35 nautical miles west of Rhodes and at an altitude of 33,000 feet.

[02] Gov't announces Erdogan visit on Nov. 18

Athens on Thursday officially announced that the leader of the Turkish party that won Sundays elections in the neighbouring country, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will arrive in the Greek capital on Monday, Nov. 18.

Government spokesman Christos Protopapas made the announcement during his regular press briefing, while he also commented on growing media speculation about a pending Cyprus solution being worked on by UN chief Kofi Annan.

?There is nothing showing that the Annan plan for Cyprus will be negative. Of course, its a compromise solution, and whats necessary is for it to fall within the framework of UN resolutions.?

[03] FM to meet with French, UK counterparts in coming days

Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, who is currently accompanying PM Costas Simitis during his official visit to Paris, is scheduled to meet with his French counterpart Dominique de Villepin.

According to a foreign ministry spokesman in Athens, Papandreou will subsequently travel to London for talks with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

The Cyprus issue is expected to be discussed at both of the Greek FMs meetings, along with the island republics EU accession course and EU-Turkey relations, among others.

[04] Greek-Turkish trade soared in the 1990s

Turkey emerged as a main trade partner of Greece in the 1990s, a survey by the Panhellenic Exporters' Union said on Thursday, with Greek exports to Turkey rising by almost five times in the previous decade accounting for 5.0 percent total Greek exports in 2000 from 1.4 percent in 1990.

Turkey currently ranks fifth in Greece's list of international trade partners, from 14th in 1990.

Greek imports from Turkey also rose spectacularly, although at slower average growth rate (12 percent) compared with exports (18 percent), ranking Turkey in the 19th position in a list of the country's suppliers.

Bilateral trade jumped to 976 million US dollars in 2000 from 223 million US dollars in 1990, with exports falling significantly in the 1998-1999 period due to a financial crisis in Turkey, the report said.

[05] Greek tourism discuss next year's trends

Greek tourism authorities are seeking to promote new tourist products amid gloomy forecasts over the international tourist market in 2003.

Greek authorities expect next year's tourist trends to be evident in a forthcoming International Tourism Trade Fair in London, opening November 11.

The issue was discussed in a meeting held at Greek National Tourist Organisation's offices in Brussels. The meeting was attended by GNTO's country directors in the UK, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden.

The meeting concluded that despite negative conditions in international tourist markets, certain main markets of Greek tourism fared satisfactory this year (England), while others recorded increases (Netherlands) and other declines (Sweden).

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.009

Pound sterling 0.643

Danish kroner 7.489

Swedish kroner 9.212

Japanese yen 122.9

Swiss franc 1.475

Norwegian kroner 7.413

Cyprus pound 0.576

Canadian dollar 1.566

Australian dollar 1.790

[07] Weather Forecast: Rain, storms on Friday

Rain and storms are forecast in all parts of the country. Winds variable, moderate to strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 3C to 14C; in the Ionian and on the rest of the mainland from 10C to 19C; and in the Aegean islands from 15C to 19C. Temperatures in Athens between 16C and 20C; and in Thessaloniki from 7C to 13C.

[08] ASE ends lower, follows European markets' lead

The decisions by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England to leave their interest rates unchanged at 3.25 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively, negatively affected sentiment in European stock markets, including the Athens Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Disappointed investors became net sellers after the two central banks announced their decisions, one day after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points to boost the fragile US economy.

The general index ended 1.05 percent lower at 1,829.10 points, with turnover a low 81.8 million euros.

The Investment and Retail sectors scored gains (5.29 percent and 0.15 percent, respectively), with the first sector supported by an EFG Eurobank Ergasias' decision to absorb all listed investment and closed-end funds under one portfolio.

The Bank, Wholesale and IT sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day (1.99 percent, 1.79 percent and 1.44 percent).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 1.62 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index eased 0.83 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 0.19 percent lower.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 228 to 95 with another 35 issues unchanged.

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