Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2000-07-06
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, July 6, 2000
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] UNANIMOUSLY THE POLITICAL WORLD REJECTS THE ALLEGATIONS ON
TERRORISM
[02] GREECE HAS BECOME A HUGE GREENHOUSE BECAUSE OF THE HEATWAVE
[03] LOSSES OF 1.42% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[04] PART OF OTE AND OLYMPIC AIRWAYS WILL BE SOLD TO PRIVATE
INVESTORS
[05] FOREIGN MINISTER PAPANDREOU WANTS ACTIVE EU INVOLVEMENT IN
CYPRUS
[06] THE ISSUE OF FYROM'S NAME WAS DISCUSSED IN THE MEETINGS OF
THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER WITH THE POLITICAL PARTY LEADERS
[07] REPPAS' STATEMENTS ON THE GERMAN WAR REPARATIONS
[08] COMMENTS ON THE ISSUE OF FYROM'S NAME
[09] REPPAS' COMMENTS ON THE TURKISH CYPRIOT PROVOCATION IN
STROVILIA
[10] PAPANDREOU-DOBINS MEETING
[11] MINISTER OF DEFENSE VISITS MOSCOW
[12] GREECE & BRITAIN HOLD TALKS FOR TERRORISM
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[13] NEW TENSION IN STROVILIA, CYPRUS
[14] THE PROXIMITY TALKS ON CYPRUS CONTINUE IN GENEVA
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] UNANIMOUSLY THE POLITICAL WORLD REJECTS THE ALLEGATIONS ON
TERRORISM
Unanimously the Greek political world rejected the unfounded
and provocative allegations on terrorism according to which,
Greece is a "terrorist paradise" putting in doubt the country's
ability to organize safe Olympic Games in 2004.
The total of the Greek political world rejected the recent
"Wall Street Journal" report. The minister of environment, public
works and land planning as well as the minister of press, the vice-
president of "Athens 2004" Organization and the leader of the
Coalition of Left party as well as the New Democracy party
spokesman all agreed that those publications are unfounded.
Minister of press and government spokesman Dimitris Reppas
stated that these are subversive publications and expressed the
belief that Athens will organize a perfect Olympiad like those in
Seoul, Barcelona and Los Angeles but not like the Atlanta Olympic
Games which was used as a negative example. Mr. Reppas attributed
the attack launched against Athens "to games that have to do with
the operation of the international Olympic family", as he stressed
characteristically.
After his meting with foreign minister Papandreou, Coalition
of the Left leader Nikos Konstantopoulos stated that the issue of
terrorism is being used to exert destabilizing pressures on the
country's prestige internationally and domestically. Mr.
Konstantopoulos pointed out that even those who speak against
Greece now do not have an effective policy in their country,
reminding that the terrorism and crime problems in the United
States are impressive. He also stressed that all the political
parties in Greece have condemned terrorism admitting however, that
there is a problem because of the weakness in dealing with it.
Minister of environment, public works and land planning
Kostas Laliotis stated that the Olympic Games in Athens will be
better than the Olympic Games in Atlanta, while New Democracy
party spokesman Aris Spiliotopoulos stressed characteristically
that Greece is a hospitable and safe country for the foreigners.
Olympic Committee chairwoman Yianna Angelopoulou and vice-
president Mr. Nikolaou characterized the newspaper reports as
exaggerated.
Minister of public order Michalis Chrisochoidis stated that
the US press publications are libelous and groundless and attempt
to create a terrorism issue in Greece in view of the 2004 Olympic
Games. Mr. Chrisochoidis also stated to the Athens radio station
"Flash" that it is the first time that the citizens participate in
the prevention of crime based on the "Laokratis" program.
[02] GREECE HAS BECOME A HUGE GREENHOUSE BECAUSE OF THE HEATWAVE
Greece became a huge greenhouse as just before 12 at noon
today the temperature in most regions in the country exceeded the
40 degrees Celsius, while according to an emergency weather
bulletin temperatures will soar to 43 degrees and locally to 44
degrees Celsius.
A small drop in the temperature is expected tomorrow but
starting on Saturday it will rise again. In Athens, the
temperature rose to 43 and 44 degrees, while in Thessaloniki it
was at 40 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, the consumption of electricity in the country
reached a new record high at 8.580 megawatt because of the
heatwave. The state Electricity Company suggested to the people to
make reasonable use of the household electric appliances and
especially the air-conditioners and its president Dimitris
Papoulias stated that there is sufficiency of electricity but
precautionary measures must be taken as these are extraordinary
weather conditions.
According to meteorologists, the temperature will drop
slightly tomorrow to 39 degrees, while it will rise again in the
weekend. Specifically, on Sunday it will be at 42 degrees, on
Monday the temperature will be lower, while on Tuesday it will
rise again and it will reach the 42 degrees Celsius.
Meteorologists warn that the heatwave will continue for many days
into the next week.
[03] LOSSES OF 1.42% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
Losses of 1.42% were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange
today with the general index dropping to 3.968,83 points, while
the volume of transactions was disappointing under 84 billion
drachmas.
The course of today's session confirmed the speculations of
the most pessimistic market analysts, who expressed reservations
regarding the duration of yesterday's upward trend in the Athens
Stock Exchange.
[04] PART OF OTE AND OLYMPIC AIRWAYS WILL BE SOLD TO PRIVATE
INVESTORS
The French telecommunications group France Telecom is
interested in purchasing 15% of the Greek Telecommunications
Organization, OTE, while the German airline Lufthansa and Greek
investors have expressed interest in the management of Olympic
Airways and the purchasing of the majority of its shares.
The above were made known by minister of national economy
Yiannos Papantoniou and minister of transportation and
telecommunications Christos Verelis during their meeting with
Credit Swiss First Boston and Warbrug representatives.
Mr. Papantoniou referring to OTE stated that in any case even
if the Greek state loses the absolute majority of the
organization's shares the management will remain under its
president Nikos Manasis.
On the privatization of Olympic Airways, Mr. Verelis stated
that a necessary precondition for the sale of the majority of the
company's shares will be to keep the flight network of the Greek
national airline intact.
[05] FOREIGN MINISTER PAPANDREOU WANTS ACTIVE EU INVOLVEMENT IN
CYPRUS
The issue of the provocative action by the occupation regime
of Rauf Denktash in Strovilia, Cyprus will be raised in Brussels
on Monday by Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou in the
working launch he will have his counterparts within the framework
of the general affairs council meeting.
Mr. Papandreou wants to make Cyprus an issue of the European
Union in order to be actively involved in the developments. At the
same time, he will continue the efforts for the intervention of
the United Nations and the restoration of the status quo in the
region.
Meanwhile, Cypriot minister of defense Sokratis Hasikos,
speaking before the defense parliamentary committee, expressed the
view that the Turks want to consolidate the situation they have
created with their advance in the region of Strovilia, pointing
out that the Turkish actions humiliate the United Nations.
Mr. Hasikos also stated that the National Guard is in a state
of readiness and has taken all necessary measures, while the
government continues the diplomatic efforts for the restoration of
the status quo in the region.
[06] THE ISSUE OF FYROM'S NAME WAS DISCUSSED IN THE MEETINGS OF
THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER WITH THE POLITICAL PARTY LEADERS
The issue of FYROM's name was discussed in the meetings
foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou had yesterday with right-wing
main opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis,
Communist Party general secretary Aleka Papariga and Coalition of
the Left leader Nikos Konstantopoulos to brief them on foreign
policy issues.
According to the Athens newspaper "Eleftherotipia", the Greek
government is working on a final solution to the problem of
FYROM's name and considers a one-word name such as
"Novamakedonia". However, there are no similar moves on behalf of
FYROM as its government faces the hard-line stance of the internal
opposition on the issue. According to the newspaper, the Greek
government was ready to publicize this effort but it had to
postpone it because of the issue of the identity cards.
According to information, Mr. Karamanlis allegedly said that
New Democracy will back a mutually acceptable solution, while he
pointed out that a number of mistakes made in the past led to
today's deadlock. In favor of the solution of the issue as soon as
possible were Ms. Papariga and Mr. Konstantopoulos.
[07] REPPAS' STATEMENTS ON THE GERMAN WAR REPARATIONS
The government's disagreement with the execution of a Greek
court decision on the German war reparations case leading to the
confiscation of Goethe Institute property was expressed by Greek
government spokesman Dimitris Reppas.
Mr. Reppas reiterated that the issue of the war reparations
is sensitive and serious and for this reason it must be examined
very carefully. He called on all sides to display cooperation and
understanding in order to deal with the issue with the necessary
sense of responsibility taking under consideration the national
interest without by-passing the rights of the people in favor of
whom the court has ruled.
[08] COMMENTS ON THE ISSUE OF FYROM'S NAME
The issue of the name of FYROM is dealt within the framework
of the United Nations, stated Greek government spokesman Dimitris
Reppas responding to a relevant question by reporters.
When asked to confirm if foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou
discussed the issue of the name of FYROM in the talks he had with
the Greek political party leaders he stated characteristically
that he can not deny or confirm it because he was not present. He
said that Greece has stated that this pending issue must be
settled because the improvement of relations between the two
countries is important.
Mr. Reppas stated that the improvement of relations with
FYROM must be accelerated and this will be achieved if a fair
solution is found on the issue of the name, adding that the stance
adopted by the other side does not help this effort to succeed.
[09] REPPAS' COMMENTS ON THE TURKISH CYPRIOT PROVOCATION IN
STROVILIA
The new provocation of the Turkish Cypriots in Strovilia was
characterized as unacceptable by Greek government spokesman
Dimitris Reppas, stressing that Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf
Denktash's stance was adopted on grounds of expediency and it is
an absolutely negative development in the effort to find a
solution to the Cyprus problem.
Mr. Reppas said that there is no involvement of the National
Guard in Strovilia, adding that the region is in a British base
and its commander has appealed to the United Nations. The United
Nations have undertaken initiatives to deal with the issue after
the movement of the Turkish occupation forces, stressing that it
was a movement inside the occupied territories and not an advance
in the free territories of Cyprus. He said that the village of
Strovilia is under a special regime and there is no change of
status.
On the Cyprus talks in Geneva, he said that this is a very
good opportunity to promote the efforts made by all sides to find
a solution to the problem. He added that the least that can be
achieved is to show for one more time to the international
community that Turkey and Denktash are not ready to comply with
the UN decisions.
He reiterated that Greece wants the relations with Turkey to
normalize because this will contribute both to the better
cooperation between the two countries and the solution of the
Cyprus problem, stressing that the Cyprus problem is a test for
the credibility of the Turkish foreign policy.
Finally, the Greek government spokesman responding to a
relevant question by a reporter stated that the government is in
absolute agreement with the statements of defense minister Akis
Tsochatzopoulos according to which, there is no issue of a
political negotiation with Turkey.
[10] PAPANDREOU-DOBINS MEETING
The latest developments in Cyprus and the provocative Turkish
action in Strovilia, near Famagusta dominated in the two-hour
talks held in Athens between Greek foreign minister Giorgos
Papandreou and US assistant secretary of state James Dobins.
Mr. Papandreou stated that they discussed the efforts made on
behalf of the UN and the US government on the Cyprus problem and
the recent issue that has been created in the region of Strovilia.
He also stated that they discussed the Greek-Turkish and the EU-
Turkish relations as well as issues concerning the Balkans.
They also exchanged views on the issue of terrorism and Mr.
Papandreou stated that Mr. Dobins will have extensive talks on the
issue with the responsible public order minister Mr. Michalis
Chrisochoidis, who will visit the United States soon to sign a
memorandum of police cooperation between the countries.
Mr. Dobins referring to the Geneva talks on Cyprus stressed
that a team of US high ranking officials is there and follows the
developments. He avoided to respond to the question on how the US
government comments on the movement of the Turkish forces in the
buffer zone in Strovilia, stating that the United Nations are
dealing with the issue and the US support the effort aimed at
finding a solution.
Mr. Dobins praised Greece's role in the crisis in Kosovo and
characterized as important Greece's influence and presence in the
Balkans, stressing that it is a model for the rest Balkan
countries that want to become members of the European Union.
[11] MINISTER OF DEFENSE VISITS MOSCOW
The Greek minister of Defense, Akis Tsochatsopoulos, arrived
in Moscow today for a four day visit. During his stay he is
expected to meet with the President of the Russian Federation,
Vladimir Putin, his Russian counterpart Igor Sergeyiev, Patriarch
Alexios and representatives of the Greek community.
The talks will focus on the future provision of military
equipment to Greek armed forces.
[12] GREECE & BRITAIN HOLD TALKS FOR TERRORISM
A two day conference is likely to be held on July 11th and
12th, during which issues concerning terrorism will be discussed
between members within the Foreign and Civil Order ministries of
both countries.
George Papandreou and Michalis Chrysochoides, Greek Foreign
minister and Civil Order minister respectively, will represent
Greece at the conference, while Baroness Elizabeth Simmons,
undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, is expected to represent
Britain.
The conference aims to provide those attending with the
opportunity to exchange opinions concerning terrorism, thus
promoting cooperation between the two countries in fighting
against it.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[13] NEW TENSION IN STROVILIA, CYPRUS
The Turks raised again the flags of the occupied territories
and Turkey in the region of Strovilia, Cyprus where the Turkish
occupation forces built a new checkpoint within the framework of
the measures implemented against the UNFICYP.
Meanwhile, the contacts and consultations with the Turkish
side continue on behalf of the United Nations for the restoration
of the situation in the way it was before last Friday when the
occupation regime in the northern part of Cyprus began
implementing the measures against UNFICYP.
Earlier, the flags had been lowered but the Turkish
occupation forces remained in the region, according to statements
made by Cypriot minister of defense Sokratis Hasikos.
[14] THE PROXIMITY TALKS ON CYPRUS CONTINUE IN GENEVA
The third round of the proximity talks on Cyprus continues in
Geneva in the shadow of the Turkish provocation in the buffer
zone, near Famagusta in the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus, and
the intransigent statements made by Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf
Denktash.
United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan stressed
yesterday that he discussed with Cypriot president Glafkos
Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash the way of
approach that will be followed and the fact that the effort will
intensify in order to reach a solution in the next few months.
In statements he made to reporters, Mr. Annan said that no
one must say or do anything that will create tension during the
talks.
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