Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-10-25

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

CONTENTS

[01] PASOK leader tours fire-ravaged Ileia prefecture

[02] FM meets with Turkish president at BSEC session

[01] PASOK leader tours fire-ravaged Ileia prefecture

Papandreou also said that the PASOK parliamentary group would table a bill in parliament containing its specific proposals for the region's reconstruction, and further proposed that farmers' minimum incomes be guaranteed for as many years as necessary until they were back on their feet from the damages suffered during the past summer's deadly wildfires, suggesting at least five years for viniculturists and seven years for olive growers.

The above were immediate measures needed to be taken, in addition to the necessary anti-flooding works and reconstruction of the infrastructures, he explained.

Papandreou was greeted on arrival at Koutsochera by Oleni mayor Ioannis Panagopoulos, who briefed the PASOK leader on the devastation left behind by the fires: 32 homes burned in the village, with the number climbing to 120 throughout the entire municipality of Oleni, another 100 farms burned, 5,000 heads of livestock dead, of which 1,200 in the village of Koutsochera alone, and 90 percent of the pine forest and 75 percent of the farmland destroyed.

Panagopoulos said that the municipal authority was "searching for hope in the ashes", stressing the need for reconstruction so that the local people would remain in the village and not bcome the "first ecological immigrants".

Papandreou said that he was "here once again, as I was during the fires, where we all experienced an ecological disaster and felt the weight and responsibility, given that the state was not able to protect the people and their properties".

The PASOK leader said it was the state's responsibility to be at the people's side, "and we had expected that the government would have come quickly to solve the problems, which do not concern a disaster such as earthquakes, but here we have complete destruction of the productive fabric" of the area.

He warned that if support was not immediately forthcoming, the people would not be able to stay in the village, adding "what purpose is there to receiving a home loan when there is no production?".

The tour will continue with a meeting with the PASOK prefectural commitee of Ileia, a meeting at the Prefectural authority headquarters with representatives of the local government and the prefecture's producer organisations, while on Thursday night Papandreou will address an open gathering in Kalamata.

[02] FM meets with Turkish president at BSEC session

The BSEC meeting opened with a message by Gul, who was Turkey's foreign minister (2003-2007) before his election to the Presidency in August this year, after which he held brief discussions with each of the attending foreign ministers.

Gul asked Bakoyannis to convey his regards to Greek President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias and prime minister Costas Karamanlis, and expressed the desire that the two sides remain in contact and continue their cooperation aimed at deepening Greek-Turkish relations.

Addressing the opening of the meeting, Gul stressed the importance of the spirit of cooperation that exists in the BSEC, the only regional organisation in the area, particularly at the present time given the unrest in Iraq, with repercussions on the neighbouring countries, he said.

"We respect the territorial integrity of the neighbouring country, but we will not tolerate the use of its territory by terrorists," Gul said with respect to Iraq.

Bakoyannis was scheduled to address the BSEC ministerial meeting shortly afterwards.

Earlier, she had separate sideline meetings with her Romanian and Serbian counterparts Adrian Cioroianu and Vuk Jeremic, respectively.

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