The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 00-09-18

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From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <ert.ntua.gr/>

CONTENTS

18/9/2000 3:41:25 μμ

[01] Sydney Olympics

The Greek cycling team of Olympic sprint was also impressing. Lambros Vassilopoulos, Dimitris Georgalis and Kleanthis Barkas took the fourth place, losing the bronze medal, with a small difference, from Australia.

On the contrary, Greek Olympic champion Nikos Kaklamanakis made a bad start in the Mistral-type windsurfing, as he was placed 15th. However, today, he is participating in the third and fourth windsurfing race, promising an improvement and advance in the next phase.

In the meantime, Greek Sports undersecretary George Floridis addressed a meeting yesterday in which 50 Sports ministers took part. The participants discussed about the Olympic ideals, the problems of modern sports as well as the commercialisation of the games.

Finally, thousands of people visited the Greek pavillion for the 2004 Olympics situated in one of the most central locations of Sydney and which hosts various bodies of the foreign and culture ministries.

[02] UN proximity talks on Cyprus

In a telephone interview with Cosmos-FM radio program in New York broadcast yesterday and which will be relayed by the first program of Greek Radio today, the Greek foreign minister George Papandreou referred to the Cyprus issue, stressing that Greece's stand was very clear. Mr Papandreou added that the question of a confederation has never been and will never be raised, while he reconfirmed that Greece supports a bizonal, bicommunal fedration solution. Foreign minister Papandreou also described as gossip, rumours about changes with Cyprus and that the Cypriot president Glafkos Kliridis was pressed to return to the talks, even though the UN secretary general Kofi Annan did not clarify his constroversial statement.

During a dinner, the Greek foreign mininister George Papandreou hosted in New York on Saturday night in honor of the Turkish delegation, the Greek foreign min and his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem reached an agreement on the process of the promotion of confidence building measures. Specifically, they agreed that the purely military and operational measures should continue being discussed by Nato, according to the Papoulias-Yilmaz treaty and that the measures for good neighbourly relations should be discussed among the political directors of the two countries' foreign ministries. Finally, the two ministers announced that they will repeat their meeting on the island of Rhodes and in Marmarida, most probably on October 18 and 19.

In a speech in Smyrna, the Turkish prime minsiter Bulent Ecevit urged for a just settlement in the Aegean that would be protecting Turkey's security and economy. He then expressed the wish that the Greek-Turkish rapproachment be extended now to the differences in the Aegean and he reformulated the demand for a solution to all the problems with Greece, through dialogue and not through international courts. Also, according to the Turkish newspapaer Sabah, Mr Ecevit stated that it would not be correct to abolish the Aegean army, a proposal that had been made in the past, as an eventual good will gesture towards Greece.

Following the statemetns of the Turkish prime minister, national defense minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos who is on a visit to Karditsa, reiterated on Saturday night, Greece's firm positions concerning Greek-Turkish relations. The only issue for discussion with Turkey, he said, is the issue of the continental shelf. He also stressed that Greece does not discuss its sovereign rights, adding that in the Aegean, the Lauzanne treaty is very clear and beyond question as far as Greece's limits and territorial waters are concerned.

[03] Concern over rising fuel prices

The ministry of development is dealing with measures to cope with the crisis, while development minister Nikos Christodoulakis does not appear optimistic over the recent developments, stressing that an adjustment was necessary to a prospect of increased prices.

The president of Venezuela Hugo Tsaves yesterday expressed his concern over the non-balanced oil consumption, announcing that in the next OPEC summit, due to be held in Karakas on September 27th and 28th, he would propose the use of alternative energy resources.

In the meantime, tension in the Persian Gulf is culminating, threatening the world economy.

US and British forces in the Persian Gulf are on the alert to face any attack by Iraq, US defence secretary William Cohen said yesterday, referring to the new threats launched by Bagdhad against Kuweit.

At the same time, Iraq yesterday accused Iran of launching a rocket attack on residential areas in Bagdhad, during which one person was killed and numerous houses were destroyed.

[04] Times report on Book for Greeks from Pontus

The book refers to the tragedy of Greeks living in the Black Sea whom the Turks uprooted from their ancestral homes during the Greek-Turkish war in the period 1910-1923.

The report quotes that Greeks were not only driven away from their land, but their culture, languagge and religious monuments were also wipped out together with many of their villages.

It is also stressed in the report that amlost a century afterwards, memories are still fresh in the minds of those who survived and their children as well, like Halo who recounts the odyssey of her 90 year old mother today.

When the genocide began, says the report, the community of Greeks from the Black Sea was numbering about 700,000 souls. 300.000 lost their lives while the others were forced to exile. About 40,000 of them live in Astoria presently.

The head of the Pan-American Committee for the Genocide of Greeks from Pontus Peter Stavrianidis who attended the book presentation at Stathakeio Center stated: ''We continue the struggle for informing the world about the genocide and we ask for its recognition.

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