MPA NEWS IN BRIEF (22/04/1996)

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

Macedonian Press Agency Brief News in English Directory

BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN BY MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY

Thessaloniki April 22, 1996

TITLES

NEWS IN DETAIL

[01] PRIME MINISTER DEPARTS FOR FORMAL VISIT TO LONDON

Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis departs this afternoon for a formal visit to London, accompanied by the alternate Foreign Minister George Romeos. According to reports, tomorrow Mr. Simitis will hold talks with the British Premier John Major where the Greek Premier will aim at securing british support on greek national issues, mainly the greek-turkish differences.

Tomorrow evening, the British Deputy Prime Minister Mike Heselltine will host a dinner in honor of Mr. Simitis at Lancaster House. Mr. Heselltine is the British government's co-ordinator for the promotion of british trade export and it is said that he will refer to the imrpovement of bilateral economic and trade relations between Greece and Britain.

On Wednesday morning, the Greek Premier will depart London for Dublin, Ireland, where he will hold talks with his Irish counterpart John Bruton during a working lunch.

[02] HALF-SUNK PASSENGER SHIP TO BE REFLOATED BY GREEK COAST GUARD

Coast guard units are trying to stop oil from spilling in the sea from the tanks of Poseidon Express, the passenger ship that was holed Friday near the island of Paros.

Merchant Marine Ministry spokespeople stated that special crews were pumping tons of oil from the ship's tanks, a process which, according to Ministry officials, will last at least two days although the small traces of pollution on the port is currently under control.

According to reports, it will take one month to refloat the half-sunk Poseidon and tow it outside the port of Paros. The passenger ship was holed yesterday when, in trying to avoid collision with another passenger ship, it fell on a reef near the island of Paros.

The 7,284-ton Poseidon Express was carrying hundreds of passengers who were safely evacuated from the ship before it went down since the captain successfully brought it to port. According to police officials, the accident occured because the captains of Poseidon and the other ship, the 4,555-ton Naias II, entered into the small port simultaneously and had no time to make the proper maneuvers.

[03] GREECE TO EXERCISE VETO ON EU FUNDING FOR TURKEY

Greece is expected to exercise its veto powers over Turkey's funding by the European Union's MEDA funding regulation, which aims to allocate ECU 3.4 billion in aid to 12 non-Community Mediterranean countries including Turkey, during today's meeting of the EU General Affairs Council.

The financing program is the only item on the discussion agenda during today's meeting. According to a press release issued by the Council of Ministers' secretary-general, the 15 EU representatives will decide during today's meeting whether any new developments in the greek positions have occured that would overcome the greek government's objections over the MEDA financing.US

[04] ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE EMBARKS ON TOUR FOR CUPRUS

United States Assistant Secretary of State John Cornbloom embarks today on a tour regarding the cypriot issue and the greek-turkish relations, making Turkey his first stop.

In Ankara, Mr. Cornbloom is expected to discuss these issues with the Turk Premier Mesut Yilmaz, the leader of the True Path Party Tansu Ciller and the Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay. He will also meet with the leaders of the turkish military forces. Following Ankara, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State will visit Athens and on Thursday will travel to Nicosia. Cypriot President Glafkos Clerides stated yesterday that the cypriot government had asked that Mr. Cornbloom visit the region prior to the start of the new american initiative.

[05] TURKISH PRESS WARNS THAT HAGUE VENUE WON'T BE FAVORABLE FOR ANKARA

Turkey will be found in a difficult position if it resorts to the International Court of Justice at The Hague for the Imia ilsets issue, stated the political columnist Yialtsin Doyan of the turkish daily "Milliyet", in a balanced analysis of the Imia islets issue. The columnist reveals that "during the previous week in London, turkish foreign ministry officials examined the Aegean Sea issues with distinguished legal experts who specialize in the area of International Law. "From a legal point of view, it was emphasized to the Turk officials that Turkey will be found in a difficult position regarding the Imia islets issue." Turkey's only faint hope is to mainly gain impressions from the Yilmaz appeal and to achieve the resort of the Aegean Sea issues as a whole to The Hague, something that the greek govenrment will not even discuss, according to the columnist.

Doyan also wrote that Turkey, by resorting to the Hague with the Aegean Sea issues packaged into a whole, hopes that it will be able to support its arguments that "the 131 islets do not belong to anyone, therefore they constitute a neutral zone. Its goal is to discuss these items one by one. However, Turkey's position in Imia is weak," Doyan opined, adding that "that's why the Greek Premier reminded US President Clinton during their meeting that the turkish Foreign Ministry in 1977 had stated to the greek government that the rock islets Imia (Kardak as Doyan referred to them) belong to Greece."

The turk colunmnist also criticized Tansu Ciller's government for its policies and noted that "the foreign policy followed during the last three years is full of dead ends. Clear examples are the relations with the European Union and with the neighbors." Another turkish paper's columnist Mehmet Ali Birand who writes for the Sabah, has voiced his criticism over his country's foreign policy. Birand referred to talks he held with various diplomats in Washington, London and Bonn where all of whom emphasized that "Turkey must resolve its foreign problems with Greece and Cyprus and its interior issue of the Kurds, as soon as possible.

"The most important issue is," Birand wrote, "that if Turkey does not act and propose creative formulas and does not proceed towards a peaceful direction in the Aegean and Cyprus, the others will start to pressure us and impose their solutions upon us.

"Turkey does not want to get to the point where it must give in order to be saved, but if it wishes to be relieved in the Aegean and the Mediterranean, it must find an approach which will not offend its sovereign rights.

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