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The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 99-08-17
From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <ert.ntua.gr/>
CONTENTS
[01] DEVASTATING QUAKE IN TURKEY
[02] GREEK PRESIDENT ATTENDS COMMEMORATION OF HOLOCAUST AT KOMENO
[03] PRIME MINISTER BACK IN ATHENS TODAY
[04] MORE MEASURES TO CONTROL ILLEGAL BUILDING
[05] GREEK STATE POISED TO COLLECT HUGE DEBTS
[06] MINISTER FOR THE AEGEAN TO VISIT AUSTRALIA
[07] GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF MELBOURNE CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY
[08] CHURCH OF GREECE TO OPERATE TV CHANNEL
[09] OPEN UNIVERSITIES IMPLEMENT LONG-DISTANCE LEARNING COURSES
[10] ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE UP 1.76% YESTERDAY
[11] AGREEMENT FOR RETURN OF ALBANIANS TO MITROVICA
[12] EU COMMISSIONER SEES DIFFICULTIES IN TURKEY'S EU ADMISSION
[01] DEVASTATING QUAKE IN TURKEY
A devastating earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale according
to the Colorado seismological centre, occurred at 03.00 a.m. today,
Greek time, in north-western Turkey. The epicenter of the quake was in
the city of Izmit -also known as Nicomedea- 90 km east of
Constantinople on the sea of Marmara, just before the Bosphorus straits
leading into the Black Sea. The toll is mounting by the minute. The
latest report from the Anatolia news agency said 325 bodies have been
found so far. Izmit was leveled and heavy damage has been reported in
Constantinople and nearby towns.
Latest reports said over 3 thousand people were injured and thousands
more have been trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings. Rescue
teams are making superhuman efforts to find survivors. In
Constantinople, chaos prevails and the power supply has been cut off,
but a fire which broke out in an oil refinery in western Turkey has
been put under control. A Turkish naval base on the sea of Marmara has
suffered heavy damage.
Turkish prime minister Bulent Ecevit told reporters 20 people were
killed there and over 200 trapped in the rubble. The earthquake also
rocked northern Greece, especially Thrace and islands of the north
eastern Aegean, but so far there have been no reports of casualties or
damage. In Athens, an emergency meeting was held at the foreign
ministry to coordinate relief aid to Turkey.
[02] GREEK PRESIDENT ATTENDS COMMEMORATION OF HOLOCAUST AT KOMENO
President of the republic Konstantinos Stefanopoulos yesterday attended
the events marking the 55th anniversary of the holocaust of Komeno in
Arta, where 317 people were executed by the German occupation troops.
President Stefanopoulos said that Greece threatened no one, but neither
did it intend to cede rights or forget its history.
[03] PRIME MINISTER BACK IN ATHENS TODAY
Prime minister Kostas Simitis will return from his summer holidays
today to tackle the task of preparing the state budget of the year
2000, make final decisions on tax reforms and finalize plans for his
speech at the annual international trade fair to be held in
Thessaloniki next month. In his contacts with cabinet members, Mr
Simitis will discuss the political initiatives to be resumed in view of
the parliamentary elections in March 2000. He will also visit Albania
on August 24 and 25.
[04] MORE MEASURES TO CONTROL ILLEGAL BUILDING
After the national cadastre, the environment ministry will table in
parliament in September a draft bill on land planning with the aim of
putting an end to lawless building. The relative bill also provides
for important changes in zoning regulations in regions which are not
included in town planning. Environment minister Kostas Laliotis has
urged the prefects to speed up procedures to incorporate these regions
in town plans.
[05] GREEK STATE POISED TO COLLECT HUGE DEBTS
Private persons, businesses and corporate organizations owe the Greek
state the astronomical sum of 3 trillion drachmas. According to the
data processing service, notices to pay their debts have already been
sent to 500,000 debtors who risk imprisonment, a ban to leave the
country, confiscation and auctioning of their assets if they do not pay
up.
[06] MINISTER FOR THE AEGEAN TO VISIT AUSTRALIA
Minister for the Aegean Stavros Benos is to visit Australia next month
to inaugurate events dubbed "Aegean Week" at Melbourne's La Trobe
university organized by the National Centre for Greek studies and
research from 20 to 30 September. The exhibitions entitled "Aegean -
people and places" and "Aegean - Archipelago and Cyprus" will also be
shown during the events. Culture minister Elisavet Papazoi will also
visit Australia in September to discuss issues connected with Greece's
cultural presence at the Sydney Olympic Games of the year 2000.
[07] GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF MELBOURNE CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY
The Greek Orthodox community of Melbourne, Victoria, is celebrating its
102nd anniversary. It was the first Greek community to be established
in Australia. Celebrations will culminate on Sunday, August 22nd, with
a service at the church of the Annunciation, the oldest Greek Orthodox
church in Australia.
[08] CHURCH OF GREECE TO OPERATE TV CHANNEL
The Church of Greece will soon establish its own TV station. Reports
said it would start operating in the first half of the year 2000.
[09] OPEN UNIVERSITIES IMPLEMENT LONG-DISTANCE LEARNING COURSES
Open Universities are now entering a new era of development, that of
long-distance learning, giving 5,500 adults free access to higher
education, since its degrees are equivalent to the ones supplied by
conventional universities. The programmes of studies will be announced
in the first 15 days of September, while people who are interested in
them may obtain the relevant information from various prefectures.
[10] ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE UP 1.76% YESTERDAY
On the Athens stock exchange, the general share price index yesterday
went up again by 1.76 %, closing at 4,884.22. The Cyprus stock exchange
is also on an upward trend after a week's closure. It went up by 9.25%
while international money markets also rose yesterday.
[11] AGREEMENT FOR RETURN OF ALBANIANS TO MITROVICA
The international peace keeping force has announced that an agreement
has been reached for the gradual return of Albanian families to the
north Kosovo city of Kosovaka Mitrovica where the population is
predominantly Serbian. Earlier the Yugoslav leadership had called for
the immediate disarmament of the Kosovo Liberation Army and the return
to the province of units of the Yugoslav army and police.
Meanwhile the Tanjug news agency has quoted an official announcement as
saying that Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic has demanded full
respect of the commitments undertaken by the international peace
keeping force and the UN mission in Kosovo. The announcement added that
in the past two months since the despatch of the peace force to Kosovo
the worst crimes have been committed against the Serbs in Kosovo.
[12] EU COMMISSIONER SEES DIFFICULTIES IN TURKEY'S EU ADMISSION
European commissioner responsible for EU enlargement issues Gunther
Verheugen has described Turkey's entry into the EU as difficult,
stressing that Ankara still has serious weaknesses in the sectors of
democracy, human rights and the protection of minority groups.
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