Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 99-03-09
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, March 9, 1999
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GREEK DIPLOMAT: I WAS NOT DETAINED, IT WAS A SIMPLE ID CHECK
[02] COMMUNIST PARTY MEMBERS BLOCK TRAIN CARRYING NATO TANKS
[03] HELLENIC PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT REPLIES TO TURKEY'S CHARGES
[04] US GENERAL MAINTAINS EQUAL DISTANCES BETWEEN GREECE AND
TURKEY
[05] REPPAS: GREECE'S POSITION TOWARD THE KURDISH ISSUE IS CLEAR
[06] A DEMARCHE WAS ISSUED TO TURKEY IN PROTEST TO THE BEHAVIOUR
TOWARD THE GREEK ATTACHE IN ANKARA
[07] THE EUROPEAN COURT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CALLS FOR A FAIR TRIAL
FOR OCALAN
[08] SIMITIS-PAPANTONIOU DISCUSSED THE COURSE OF THE GREEK ECONOMY
[09] THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER WILL TOUR BALKAN CAPITAL CITIES
[10] KRANIDIOTIS: TURKEY SHOULD LEAVE GREECE OUTSIDE ITS PRE-
ELECTION PERIOD
[11] A POLITICAL PARTY LED BY ATHENS MAYOR AVRAMOPOULOS WILL GET
19.8% OF THE VOTES ACCORDING TO AN OPINION POLL
[12] ALKIS STEAS DIED TODAY
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[13] GREEK DIPLOMAT DETAINED IN ANKARA FOR TWO HOURS
[14] MAIN OPPOSITION LEADER TO MEET WITH US SECRETARY OF STATE
[15] US-GREECE ECONOMIC, COMMERCIAL MEETING HELD IN WASHINGTON
[16] US ENVOY RICHARD HOLBROOKE IN BELGRADE
[17] OLYMPIAKOS PRESIDENT APPEARS ON CNN'S "PINNACLE EUROPE"
[18] US PAN-CYPRIOT ASSOCIATION: LOIZIDOU IS "WOMAN OF THE YEAR"
[19] ALBANIA: OSCE VEHICLE FIRED AT, NO ONE WAS INJURED
[20] JOSCHKA FISCHER, HANS VAN DEN BROEK, IN TIRANA TODAY
[21] KARAMANLIS-ALBRIGHT MEETING IN WASHINGTON
[22] JAMES RUBIN: THE US WELCOMES EVERY STATEMENT THAT CONDEMNS
TERRORISM
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GREEK DIPLOMAT: I WAS NOT DETAINED, IT WAS A SIMPLE ID CHECK
The charges d'affaires of the Greek Embassy in Ankara,
Michalis Christides, presently the acting ambassador, clarified
today that he was not detained by the Turkish police and that they
merely asked him to show his identification.
Speaking to an Athens radio station, Mr. Christides stated
that the identification check was performed in regards to his
motorcycle and it took longer than it would have normally since he
does not speak Turkish.
The Greek embassy did file a demarche with the Turkish
Foreign Ministry as the news agency "Anadolu" reported that the
Greek diplomat's movements were "suspicious".
[02] COMMUNIST PARTY MEMBERS BLOCK TRAIN CARRYING NATO TANKS
A group of approximately 150 individuals, members of the
communist Party of Greece and the Communist youth of Greece,
blockaded a railway train in Thessaloniki this morning, protesting
the passage of NATO forces through Greece to Skopje.
The passenger train, which was transporting NATO tanks to
FYROM, continued its course two hours later after the group left
the block.
[03] HELLENIC PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT REPLIES TO TURKEY'S CHARGES
The President of the Hellenic Parliament Apostolos
Kaklamanis, while at the Euro-Mediterranean parliaments'
conference held in Majorca, stated that "we cannot identify every
struggle and every effort by peoples for freedom and independence,
every struggle by individuals for human rights with terrorism, and
think that in this way we have done away with the problem."
Mr. Kaklamanis was responding to an effort aimed at
tarnishing the Greek government in light of the Ocalan affair by
Turkish assembly vice-president Gurkan. The Turkish deputy had
referred "to allied countries in NATO which are supporting the
terrorist organization PKK against Turkey."
Mr. Kaklamanis said all must condemn and work to avert
preconditions for terrorism or for actions which we freely
christen terrorism afterwards.
Cypriot House Speaker Spyros Kyprianou also sternly replied
to the Turkish MP, saying that relevant reference to terrorism was
irrational at a time "when the occupation of 40 per cent of the
Republic of Cyprus is continuing for 25 years with the force of
arms by 'Attila's' invasion forces."
[04] US GENERAL MAINTAINS EQUAL DISTANCES BETWEEN GREECE AND
TURKEY
The United States Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen.
Shelton has maintained a stance of equal distances between Greece
and Turkey, by stating that NATO could serve as a stepping stone
where the differences and conflicts among its members could be
settled through mutual concessions.
Concerning terrorism, the US General stated that those
involved in terrorist activities should not be able to find refuge
anywhere.
[05] REPPAS: GREECE'S POSITION TOWARD THE KURDISH ISSUE IS CLEAR
Greece's position is clear. We can not condemn a conviction.
We condemn actions and not individuals, we will not become
evaluators or graders of people and organizations, stressed Greek
government spokesman Dimitris Reppas.
The statement was made by Mr. Reppas when he was asked to
comment on the pressures exerted by the United States on the Greek
government in order to characterize the Kurdish PKK as a terrorist
organization. Mr. Reppas also added that the European Union has
recognized the Kurdish problem.
[06] A DEMARCHE WAS ISSUED TO TURKEY IN PROTEST TO THE BEHAVIOUR
TOWARD THE GREEK ATTACHE IN ANKARA
The responsible foreign ministry director issued a demarche
to the Turkish ambassador to Athens protesting against the
unacceptable behaviour of the Turkish authorities toward the Greek
embassy attache in Ankara, Michalis Christidis.
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas characterized this
behaviour as unacceptable and provocative, while deputy foreign
minister Yiannos Kranidiotis commented that it is in contrast to
the diplomatic practice and the European tactic.
[07] THE EUROPEAN COURT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CALLS FOR A FAIR TRIAL
FOR OCALAN
The European Court for Human Rights calls for the
safeguarding of a fair trial for Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Specifically, the court calls on Turkey to respect his right
for private consultations with the lawyers of his choice and
secure that Ocalan is in a position to exercise his right to
appeal to courts with lawyers of his choice.
The European Court points out that the State Security Court,
that will try Ocalan, has been already found to be in contrast
with the treaty for human rights, while the threat of the death
penalty makes even more significant the international guarantees
for the safeguarding of a fair trial.
[08] SIMITIS-PAPANTONIOU DISCUSSED THE COURSE OF THE GREEK ECONOMY
The course of the Greek economy was the main issue in the
meeting of prime minister Kostas Simitis with minister of national
economy and finance Yiannos Papantoniou. They examined the course
of inflation and ways for its further de-escalation.
Mr. Simitis and Mr. Papantoniou also discussed issues
concerning the structural changes, the course of the sale of the
Ionian Bank, the tax exemptions, issues concerning the party
congress of PASOK and the European Parliament elections.
Meanwhile, Moody's specialists are visiting the ministry of
national economy and finance before they draw up a report that
will be published in the summer.
[09] THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER WILL TOUR BALKAN CAPITAL CITIES
Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou will be on a tour
of the Balkan capital cities tomorrow within the framework of the
new approach attempted by Greece in the Balkans and the alarming
developments concerning Kossovo.
US mediator Richard Halbrooke arrives in Belgrade today to
persuade Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic to accept the
package of the peace agreement including the deployment of land
forces in Kossovo.
The Greek foreign minister will start his three-day Balkan
tour from Skopje tomorrow and afterwards he will go to Tirana,
while tomorrow evening he is scheduled to be in Bucharest.
Mr. Papandreou chaired a meeting today with the Greek
ambassadors to the Balkan countries, while yesterday had a
telephone conversation with his Romanian counterpart who currently
holds the presidency of the Inter-Balkan and informed him on his
trip.
The goal of Mr. Papandreou and the Greek side is for the
countries of the region not to be left in the margins, as they
will be hit in case of a military intervention in Kossovo. For the
moment, Kossovo's regional capital Pristina is not included among
the stops of the Greek foreign minister's tour of the Balkans.
[10] KRANIDIOTIS: TURKEY SHOULD LEAVE GREECE OUTSIDE ITS PRE-
ELECTION PERIOD
It would be best if Turkey would leave Greece and the Greek-
Turkish issues outside its pre-election period, pointed out deputy
foreign minister Yiannos Kranidiotis, while responding on the
likelihood of a "hot incident" in the Aegean, he underlined that
he is not afraid that there will be one, adding however, that
Greece is ready both diplomatically and in terms of defense to
deal with any threat. He also said that he believes that Turkey
will not attempt such a madness because this will lead to a
dangerous deadlock. Mr. Kranidiotis also stated that the policy
followed by Turkey will place it in the margins of Europe.
The Greek deputy foreign minister stated that Greece has set
certain pre-conditions for the EU funding of Turkey and if those
pre-conditions are met Greece is willing to re-examine the issue.
Among those pre-conditions are the stance of Turkey on the
issue of its relations with Greece, the Aegean, Cyprus and its
overall attitude on issues of human rights.
[11] A POLITICAL PARTY LED BY ATHENS MAYOR AVRAMOPOULOS WILL GET
19.8% OF THE VOTES ACCORDING TO AN OPINION POLL
An opinion poll published by the Athens newspaper
"Eleftherotipia" shows that if parliamentary elections were held
today a political party led by Athens mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos
would have gotten 19.8% of the votes. However, 44.7% responded
that definitely they would not vote for him.
Of the voters that would have supported Mr. Avramopoulos, 27%
had voted for right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy in
1996, 18.4% for the governing socialist party of PASOK, 25% for
the Democratic Social Movement, 6% for the Coalition of the Left
and 5.5.% for the Greek Communist Party.
Mr. Avramopoulos is most popular (69%) among the voters aged
over 60 followed by those who are 45-59 years old with 68.5%, 18-
30 years old with 53.2% and 31- 44 years old with 50%.
A percentage of 39.5 of those questioned regard him as able,
36% as dynamic, 22.6% as reliable, 22% as honest, 24.8% believe
that he works for his own interest, 13.1% believe that he is a
populist, 11% believe that he is an opportunist and 8% believe
that he can not inspire confidence.
[12] ALKIS STEAS DIED TODAY
Alkis Steas died in the early morning hours of today after a
four-year fight with cancer. He was among the first Greek
television presenters when the Greek television was at its
embryonic stage.
He was born in the Aegean island of Siros but he grew up in
Thessaloniki and worked in the radio ever since he was very young,
while he was known for turning the greeting "be happy" into his
own distinguishing slogan. For a number of years, he was the
presenter of a popular television show and Thessaloniki's Greek
Song Festival, while for 30 years he presented the carnival of
Patras celebrations. He was 70 years old.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[13] GREEK DIPLOMAT DETAINED IN ANKARA FOR TWO HOURS
A Greek diplomat stationed in Ankara was arrested and
detained for two hours at a police station, in spite of having
shown his diplomatic identification card.
The Greek Embassy's charges d'affaires Michalis Christides,
presently the acting ambassador, was stopped and questioned by
military police while he was taking a walk in the country.
The Greek Embassy has proceeded to filing a demarche with the
Turkish Foreign Ministry.
[14] MAIN OPPOSITION LEADER TO MEET WITH US SECRETARY OF STATE
The leader of Greece's main opposition party, New Democracy's
Kostas Karamanlis, is to be received by the Us Secretary of state
Madeleine Albright today in Washington.
Mr. Karamanlis, is presently on an official visit to the
United States where he will remain until March 16, will hold talks
with vice-president Al Gore on Thursday, and UN secretary-general
Kofi Annan and Archbishop Spyridon on Friday.
He met with US Senator Edward Kennedy with whom he discussed
Greek-Turkish relations and the Cyprus issue.
"IT is obvious that the intransigent side is Turkey which
does not allow for progress towards a fair and viable solution to
the Cyprus issue, "Mr. Karamanlis stated following his talks with
Sen. Kennedy.
"I should reiterate and underline that we both agreed that
Cyprus's accession course (to the EU) should be promoted without
this being a leverage point for the political solution," he added.
The ND leader will also visit the universities of Tufts and
Harvard, the Wall Street Journal and the Center for Strategic and
International Studies in addition to giving a speech to the
Greater New York Federation of Greek Societies.
Mr. Karamanlis is accompanied by New Democracy MPs Petros
Molyviatis, Vassilis Magginas and Fani Palli-Petralia.
[15] US-GREECE ECONOMIC, COMMERCIAL MEETING HELD IN WASHINGTON
A United States - Greece economic and commercial commission
meeting was held in Washington yesterday, featuring among the
participants Greece's ambassador in Washington, Alexandros Philon,
and US ambassador in Athens Nicholas Burns.
The meeting stressed the strength of the US and Greek
economies and the growing opportunities for expansion. The next
commission meeting is scheduled to be held in Greece.
[16] US ENVOY RICHARD HOLBROOKE IN BELGRADE
United States envoy Richard Holbrooke is to arrive in
Belgrade today, in an effort to convince Yugoslav president
Slobodan Milosevic to accept the agreement pertaining to Kosovo.
Meanwhile, leading members of the Kosovo Liberation Army
(UCK) had requested additional time in order to approve the
region's peacekeeping plan.
[17] OLYMPIAKOS PRESIDENT APPEARS ON CNN'S "PINNACLE EUROPE"
Socrates Kokkalis, the founder of the Intracom group and
president of Greece's Olympiakos sports club, appeared on the
Cable News Network (CNN) on Sunday, during the program "Pinnacle
Europe", where stressed that he wants to expand to the US.
Mr. Kokkalis, said that "the Greek market is small for
Intracom, which has already expanded to other markets.
When asked if Intracom could be purchased by a larger firm,
Mr. Kokkalis responded "Intracom was a child raised by me, but I
should be a realist and think as a businessman...If there is a
significant offer in the future to benefit the growth of the
company, then I will be positive."
[18] US PAN-CYPRIOT ASSOCIATION: LOIZIDOU IS "WOMAN OF THE YEAR"
The women's charter of the Pan-Cypriot Association
of the United States will bestow the "Woman of the Year" award
upon Greek-Cypriot refugee Titina Loizidou, for her lengthy
struggle against Turkey which violated her right to peaceful
enjoyment of her property in occupied Kerynia.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered Turkey
to pay 300.000CYP pounds in damages to Ms. Loizidou.
The award ceremony will be held in New York on Sunday, March
13, on the occasion of the International Day of Women.
[19] ALBANIA: OSCE VEHICLE FIRED AT, NO ONE WAS INJURED
Unknown culprits opened fire at a vehicle transporting staff
from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) today, at the Albania-Kosovo border, although no one was
injured.
According to the French news agency AFP, four shots were
fired at the jeep which was occupied by a Czech national, an
Albanian and two OSCE observers.
[20] JOSCHKA FISCHER, HANS VAN DEN BROEK, IN TIRANA TODAY
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer is to complete his
tour of Yugoslavia,. FYROM and Albanian today by visiting Tirana
where he will be briefed on the current situation in Kosovo, prior
to the second round talks to begin on March 15.
During his brief stay at the Albanian capital, Mr. Fischer,
who s accompanied by EU Commissioner Hans Van Den Broek, will meet
with Albanian President Reijep Meidani, Prime Minister Panteli
Majko and his Albanian counterpart Paskal Milo.
[21] KARAMANLIS-ALBRIGHT MEETING IN WASHINGTON
Right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy leader
Kostas Karamanlis, who is on a visit to the United States, will
meet in Washington today with US Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright.
The head of the main Greek opposition party after the meeting
he had yesterday with US Senator Edward Kennedy stated that their
discussion focused on the Cyprus issue and the Greek-Turkish
issues, stating that it is obvious that the intransigent side is
Turkey which does not allow progress to be made toward a fair and
viable solution of the Cyprus problem.
Mr.Karamanlis stressed after the meeting that the US Senator
expressed his support to the solution of the Cyprus problem based
on the UN decisions and resolutions that have been adopted. Before
the meeting, Mr. Kennedy underlined that Greece is a strong and
powerful ally of the United States, while he pointed out that
there are strong ties between Greece and the State of
Massachussets from where he comes from, as the Greek-Americans who
live there have contributed a lot to the community.
Meanwhile, the Ocalan affair was the main subject of the
questions to which New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis
responded in the meetings he had yesterday both in Washington's
"American Enterprise Institute" and the newspaper "Washington
Post".
The BBC reported that Mr. Karamanlis, in statements he made
from the United States, criticized strongly the way the Greek
government dealt with the Ocalan affair and accused Turkey of
using terrorist methods against the Kurds. The New Democracy
leader also underlined that the US needs to pressure Ankara for
the normalization of the Greek-Turkish relations.
The issue of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and the Greek-
Turkish relations were the main subjects in the interview of Mr.
Karamanlis to CNN International. He criticized the way the issue
was handled by the Greek government and rejected the allegations
against Greece that it harbors terrorism. However, he agreed with
the stance of the Greek government which refused to grant
political asylum to Ocalan, saying that this affair should not be
added to the long list of Greek-Turkish disputes.
On the prospects of the Greek-Turkish relations, the leader
of New Democracy stated that there is a long list of issues that
need to be dealt with and pointed out that the Ocalan affair has
added tension to bilateral relations. He underlined that the
Kurdish issue must be solved with political means and expressed
the view that the Greek-Turkish relations can improve, while he
said that there is a European role for Turkey under the pre-
condition that Ankara will abandon every act of aggression,
renounce the use of force and comply with international law and
treaties.
Responding to the question on how he would have handled the
Ocalan affair, Mr. Karamanlis said that there were two options,
one was to ask Ocalan not to come to Greece or to leave
immediately because he had entered the country secretly and the
second one was to arrest him and ask the European partners to
reach a joint decision in order to solve an issue of international
importance.
Mr. Karamanlis will meet with US vice-president Al Gore on
Thursday and with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York on
Friday.
[22] JAMES RUBIN: THE US WELCOMES EVERY STATEMENT THAT CONDEMNS
TERRORISM
The United States through State Department spokesman James
Rubin requested indirectly from Greece to condemn the Kurdish PKK
organization.
Responding to questions by reporters concerning the speech
against terrorism delivered by Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis
in parliament last Friday, Mr. Rubin stated characteristically
that the United States welcome statements condemning terrorism as
well as the adoption of specific measures against terrorist
organizations. He also added that he has not read the complete
statement of the Greek prime minister and therefore, he can not
make further comments.
The US State Department spokesman also avoided to comment on
statements made by Turkish officials against Greece.
Commenting on the visit of right-wing main opposition party
of New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis to the United States,
Mr. Rubin stressed that the United States have a long tradition of
meetings with the leaders of the opposition parties in their
democratic ally countries.
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