Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 97-12-20

From: Macedonian Press Agency <mpa@philippos.mpa.gr>

Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory

BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN BY THE MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY

Thessaloniki, December 20, 1997

NEWS IN ENGLISH

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

TITLES

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

NEWS IN DETAIL

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[01] THE MISSING UKRAINIAN PASSENGER PLANE HAS BEEN FOUND

The wreckage of the missing “YAK-42” Ukrainian passenger plane that crashed in the process of landing at the airport of Thessaloniki on Wednesday night, was located in the region of Fotina in Pieria north-central Greece. The plane crashed at an altitude of 400 meters in a ravine near the village Aronas.

The plane was located at 10:30 am this morning by a “Sicorski” helicopter of the Greek Navy. The pilot landed the helicopter at the scene of the crash and informed the ministry of national defense. All land forces in the region are being directed to the scene of the crash.

Thessaloniki’s prefect Kostas Papadopoulos stated that the passengers of the plane will be taken to the new Papageorgiou Hospital in Thessaloniki. He said that the specific hospital was selected in consultation with the forensic surgeons and minister of Macedonia-Thrace Philippos Petsalnikos because it has the most modern medical equipment and a heliport.

Mr.Papadopoulos stated that all hospitals in Thessaloniki are in a state of alert to handle the situation.

A high-ranking officer of the Greek Army, Lieutenant-General Dimou speculated that there is no chance to find survivors from the Ukrainian plane crash. Avoiding to get into details, he stated that he visited the scene of the crash and came to the conclusion that the chances of survival for the Ukrainian plane passengers are minimal. Lieutenant-General Dimou also stated that his helicopter was able to land in the region of the accident by pure chance as immediately afterwards the region was covered again by fog that made impossible the access to the region by air. He stated characteristically that now only land forces can reach the region.

Undersecretary of defense Dimitris Apostolakis referred to the state the doomed airplane was found in. He said that it crashed in a wooded hillside and broke into pieces. The plane skidded on the snow and the only part that remained in tact was the cockpit. Fire broke out and this is obvious by the fact that 70 hours after the crash the wreckage is still warm.

One of the passengers was literature professor Triada Karafiloudis, who went to Ukraine to prepare her graduate thesis on the activities of the Greeks living in the region in the 18th and 19th centuries. She was a mother of three.

In spite of her many engagements she always had time for her Palestinian husband and her children. Her family friend and associate Kostas Fotiadis, who is a substitute professor in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, said that she was passionate with the Hellenism in Ukraine and for 8 months she was waiting for a 500.000 drachmas scholarship that would allow her to go to Odessa, as she did not have the economic means to do that without an assistance.

[02] SIMITIS: THE STATE CAN DEAL EFFICIENTLY WITH EMERGENCIES

The state functions in a way that allows it to deal efficiently with emergencies and this is proven by the fact that there was a plan of operations, based on which, the Ukrainian passenger plane was located through the means available to the Greek state, said prime minister Kostas Simitis after the meeting of the governmental council on national defense.

Mr.Simitis expressed his sorrow for the death of the crew of the C-130 that crashed near Athens today and stated that they died in the line of duty. He said that human errors and accidents happen and the state has to be organized in such a way that will make the handling of emergencies as effective as possible.

[03] KARAMANLIS: THE GOVERNMENT HAS THE POLITICAL AND MORAL BLAME

Main opposition party of New Democracy Kostas Karamanlis expressed his sorrow for the people killed in the two airplane accidents.

Mr.Karamanlis stated that the Greek state is at disarray. He said that out of respect to the relatives of the victims he had avoided in the past few days to point out the political and moral responsibilities, and added that the Greek government has adopted a hypocritical position allegedly assuming the political responsibility.

The leader of New Democracy said that the responsible minister should resign, adding that the least the prime minister can do is to remove the transport minister and all those who have some kind of responsibility for those tragic events.

[04] THE CRASH OF THE UKRAINIAN PLANE WAS A CAUSED BY HUMAN ERROR

The crash of the “YAK-42” passenger plane was caused by human error, according to ministry of defense sources.

Based on speculations, the pilot of the passenger plane saw the lights of the Athens-Thessaloniki highway, near Veria, mistook it for the runway of the airport of Thessaloniki and attempted to land.

The airplane was flying at a very low altitude and as a result it crashed in the region of Morna and broke into pieces.

Two committees of specialists are already at the scene of the crash to examine the wreckage.

[05] TEN YAKOVLEV PLANES HAVE CRASHED SINCE 1992

[06] A C-130 CRASHED IN ATTICA

Another tragedy hit Greece today. A military C-130 transport plane with a five-member crew crashed in Agios Meletios, near Inoi in the region of Athens.

The aircraft had taken off from Elefsina with destination the airfield of Tanagra to pick up soldiers in order to bring them to the region where the search was going on for the location of the Ukrainian airplane.

According to speculations, the C-130 crash was caused by human error.

[07] A PASSENGER TRAIN CRASHED INTO ROCKS - 4 PASSENGERS WERE INJURED

The express passenger train “Intercity” from Athens to Thessaloniki crashed into rocks that fell on the railway lines as a result of a landslide near Lianokladi in central Greece at noon today.

According to information, 4 passengers were slightly injured, among them a small child. All the injured were taken to the hospital of the city of Lamia.

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

[08] CLINTON-YILMAZ MEETING

Turkish prime minister Mesut Yilmaz appeared satisfied yesterday after the meeting he had with US president Bill Clinton in Washington. Mr.Yilmaz stated that the talks were fruitful and that there was total agreement on all issues.

A White House spokesman stressed that the US side looks forward to the continuation of the negotiations for Turkey’s accession into the European Union. Mr.Clinton suggested to the Turkish prime minister not to sever political relations with the EU and to contribute to the solution of the Cyprus problem and the normalization of the Greek-Turkish relations.

During the meeting of the two leaders an agreement was signed for the purchase by Ankara of 49 “Boeing 737” passenger planes.

[09] ALBANIAN SOCIALIST PARTY NATIONAL CONFERENCE IN TIRANA

Greek undersecretary of foreign affairs Yiannos Kranidiotis will be in Tirana today to attend the national conference of the Albanian Socialist Party.

Mr.Kranidiotis will have contacts with prime minister Fatos Nano and with foreign minister Paskal Milo to discuss bilateral relations and the strengthening of cross-border cooperation, as well as the cooperation in the sectors of education, trade and economy.

The Greek undersecretary of foreign affairs will also inform the Albanian officials on the outcome of the European Council in Luxembourg as well as, on the Cyprus problem and the Greek-Turkish relations.

[10] ONLY 0,6% OF THE BULGARIANS FEAR GREECE

Based on an opinion poll conducted by a private polling company, the majority of the Bulgarians do not fear the likelihood of a military attack by a neighboring Balkan country. Those who see as possible such an attack believe that it can come mainly from Turkey.

To the question if there is a neighboring country that constitutes a threat for Bulgaria, 9,9% responded “Turkey”, 4,1% FYROM, 1,3% Serbia, 0,6% Greece and 0,2% Romania.

Also, 59,7% believes that there is no danger for Bulgaria coming from neighboring states.

Complete archives of the Macedonian Press Agency bulletins are available on the MPA Home Page at http://www.mpa.gr/ and on the U.S. mirror at http://www.hri.org/MPA/