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Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-02-01Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] PM briefs President on Ankara visitPrime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Friday denied rumors of early general elections, speaking to reporters after a meeting with President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias.The government has a "fresh and strong" popular mandate, Karamanlis said, adding that "we have much work ahead of us, and are moving forward with consistency in the materialisation of the reforms". The purpose of his meeting with Papoulias was to brief the President on his recent visit to Turkey, Karamanlis explained, adding that Greece steadfastly supports Turkey's European course, which he said was progressing in the framework of the reforms set out by the European Union, and stressed that the issues of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Chalki School of Theology were included in that framework. On his meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Karamanlis said that "we reaffirmed our volition for, and are working in the direction of, full normalisation of Greek-Turkish relations". "For Greece, the sole criterion is respect of International Law and the international Treaties," Karamanlis stressed. With respect to the Cyprus issue, Karamanlis said that "we are prepared for discussion on finding a just and viable solution", adding that "the government knows that the effort for normalising Greek-Turkish relations is a long and difficult one". Karamanlis was also due to meet afterwards with Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis. Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of President Karolos Papoulias(R) and Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis at the Presidential mansion [02] PASOK calls for fact-finding commissionThe main opposition PASOK party's parliamentary group, headed by party leader George Papandreou, on Friday formally called for the establishment of a parliamentary fact-finding commission to investigate possible kickbacks to government officials by the company Siemens and the chanelling of "political money" to political party coffers, in a letter addressed to parliament president Dimitris Sioufas."The country has recently been living a generalised crisis of values, disdain of the institutions and faces, corruption, arbitrariness in power, misappropriation of the public wealth, with the blame lying on the government," the letter said. "Not only is the government not confronting the multiple and dangerous crisis but, through its actions and omissions, it is creating and aggravating the crisis. It is breeding corruption, serving collusion, relying on the intransparency, and seeking to cover up scandals which are continuously being brought to the public light," the letter added. It said that PASOK, "who'se financial resoruces were and are out in the open, seeks, with a sense of responsibility towards the citizens, that the Siemens case be investigated and that the truth will shine". Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of main opposition PASOK leader George Papandreou [03] Museum of the Macedonian StruggleVisitors of Kria Vrisi, 65kms from Thessaloniki, in the northern Greek prefecture of Pella, will have the opportunity to go back in time το when the Greek struggle for the liberation of Macedonia was unfolding (1904-1908) in Lake Loudias-Giannitsa, as so vividly described in the book "Secrets of the Swamp" (Ta mistika tou Valtou) by Penelope Delta (1874-1941). The local authorities' plans for an outdoor museum include the creation of a miniature lake of 5.5 strema in the place of the original one, which stretched over an area of 10,000 strema while the surrounding shallow marshland was 340,000 stremma wide. The area was dried out in 1936 to stop the malaria and typhoid fever epidemic and a total of 288,750 stremma of arable land were reclaimed and distributed to refugees from Asia Minor. The 100,000-euro project will be located in the municipality of Kria Vrisi, the heart of the Macedonian Struggle events between Greeks and Bulgarians, and apart from the miniature lake will also feature four replicas of lakeside huts like the ones used by local fishermen and later by armed Bulgarians and Macedonian fighters. Inside the huts, which will be decorated with original items dating back to the early 20th century, there will be full-scale models of Macedonian struggle fighters. Visitors will be able to reach them on board makeshift wooden boats and have the opportunity to watch re-enactions of battles.Caption: The ecological park of the village of Kria Vrissi,northern Greece on Frid.1 Feb.2008 ANA-MPA/STR [04] Athens Newspaper HeadlinesThe Friday edition of Athens' dailies at a glanceThe people's final farewell to Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece who was laid to rest on Thursday, ruling New Democracy (ND) MP Costas Koukodimos' decision to leave the party and become an Independent MP, the Siemens scandal, developments in the Zachopoulos affair and the investigations over Themos Anastasiadis' (Proto Thema co-publisher) deposit of 5.5 million euros dominated the headlines on Friday in Athens' newspapers. ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "Hellenism buried its spiritual leader - Last farewell - Time for the succession". APOGEVMATINI: "Immortal - Christodoulos' funeral service and burial". AVGHI: " Koukodimos half in-half out (of New Democracy) - Synaspismos party: Government has lost every moral foothold to govern". AVRIANI: "Government must prohibit Siemens from undertaking projects in Greece - Government, opposition and Supreme Court prosecutor can find if they want the one who took money under the table". CHORA: "Karamanlis says: I will be hostage to no one - ND left with 151 parliament members (in the 300-seat unicameral parliament)". ELEFTHEROS: "Christodoulos left legacies to the people and the church - Thousands of people at the final farewell". ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Government is hanging on a one-vote majority - Maximos mansion (government headquarters) sends warning to 151 parliament members after Koukodimos' independence - Which members put early general elections scenarios on the table". ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "Koukodimos' mocking, and early elections rumors - Koukodimos out of but also 'in' the ruling party". ESTIA: "Government's redemloyment is mandatory resulting from the unbelievable current decadance". ETHNOS: " Koukodimos leaves the party with 151 members - New episode in Koukodimos' serial". KATHIMERINI: "Interests and contentions shake the government - Maximos Mansions backs chief of Special Inquiries service Spyros Kladas". LOGOS: "Koukodimos leaves the party - Government left with 151 parliament members". NIKI: "151 brings early general elections - Koukodimos jumped off New Democracy's train". RIZOSPASTIS: "Every 3.5 minutes a worker loses his life in the European Union - The statistics on the employers' crimes are macabre". TA NEA : "Karamanlis a hostage of the 151 MPs - PASOK ready for elections" TO VIMA: "Government hanging on a one vote majority - Koukodimos left the ruling party" VRADYNI: "All of Greece a teardrop - People's final farewell to the uncompromising Shepherd". Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |