MPA NEWS IN BRIEF (26/04/1996)

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 26, 1996

NEWS IN BRIEF

TITLES

NEWS IN DETAIL

[01] TURKEY WILL HAVE TO MAKE THE FIRST STEP, STATED THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER

Turkey will have to make the first step and abandon its claims over Imia, reiterated greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos speaking about tomorrow's meeting with his turkish counterpart Emre Gionensai in Bucharest.

He stressed that it would have been enough if Turkey had stated that it will appeal to the International Court of Justice in The Hague but at the same time he made it clear that if Turkey does not abandon its intransigence any discussion between the party that makes the threats and the one that is being threatened will be unthinkable.

If the turkish side abandons its territorial claims, stated mr.Pangalos, then, as the greek side has stated, the March 6th, 1995 agreement on Turkey's customs union with the EU will be implemented and thus things will return to their previous state.

He reiterated that Greece does not want to negotiate the problems as a whole, clarifying that only two are the issues of common interest that can be resolved to the benefit of both countries.

First, is the issue of the continental shelf for which an agreement to refer the dispute to arbitrators should be drawn up by both sides and second, the normalization of bilateral relations especially on issues concerning the borders.

The greek Foreign Minister also pointed out that for as long as the Cyprus problem remains unresolved there can be no mutual trust between the two countries. In the existing situation, as he said, a smooth co-existence and the averting of war are possible.

To the question on whether he has any positive indications concerning tomorrow's meeting with his turkish counterpart after yesterday's talks with US Assistant Secretary of State mr.Kornblum, the greek Foreign Minister responded negatively.

Finally, when he was asked regarding his expected meeting with his skopjan counterpart and if a specific date has been set, mr.Pangalos responded that this has not happened yet due to the heavy schedule.

Meanwhile, a day before the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Greece and Turkey in Bucharest, Ankara announced that it wants unconditional dialogue with Athens on all the aspects of the greek-turkish dispute in the Aegean.

In statements he made to the French News Agency, turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Nuretin Nurkan stated that Turkey hopes this meeting will allow the start of a dialogue on all the aspects of the greek-turkish dispute in the Aegean.

According to mr.Nurkan, the air-space over the Aegean, the continental shelf, the territorial waters and the demilitarization of the greek islands along the turkish coasts constitute the main differences between the two countries regarding the Aegean.

The turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman stated that all those problems are linked to each other and must be discussed in a constructive way within the framework of an unconditional dialogue for the maintenance of the status quo and the defusing of the tension between the two countries regarding the Aegean.

[02] STATEMENTS BY THE GREEK ALTERNATE FOREIGN MINISTER ON THE DISCUSSION IN THE US CONGRESS REGARDING THE MUSLIMS IN THRACE

The greek government is not participating but it is represented by academic experts as it had no other choice after the decision for a discussion in a US Congress Committee on the human rights of the muslim minority in Thrace. The above were stated by alternate Foreign Minister Giorgos Romeos responding to a question posed in the greek Parliament by Political Spring deputy Andreas Lentakis.

Mr.Romeos stated that this is an informal Committee that deals with human rights which is made up of about 15 US House Representatives and Senators.

Meanwhile, responding to another question posed in Parliament by a Greek Communist Party deputy, mr.Romeos stated that the issue of the war reparations from Germany is being examined by the greek and the german Foreign Ministries after an agreement between Prime Minister Simitis and Chancellor Kohl during their latest meeting.

Mr.Romeos stated that if the contacts with the german government do not bring results then the greek government will use all the legal means.

[03] THE US ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE MET WITH THE CYPRIOT PRESIDENT

US Assistant Secretary of State, John Kornblum met today with cypriot President Glafkos Kliridis to whom he conveyed his impressions from the recent contacts he had in Ankara and Athens.

Mr.Kornblum said after the meeting, that they had a very detailed and positive exchange of views while they also reviewed different issues concerning the political situation and the state of the negotiations.

Cypriot government spokesman Yiannakis Kasoulidis, who was also present in the meeting, said that there was an exchange of views, as it appears that mr.Kornblum will be involved in the US initiative for the solution of the Cyprus problem.

Mr.Kasoulidis avoided to mention the issues that were discussed but he added that the US Assistant Secretary of State made certain questions to which the Cypriot President responded.

[04] GREECE WANTS THE KOZLODUI NUCLEAR PLANT CLOSED

Greece has presented its position to the European Union according to which the Kozlodui nuclear plant must be closed, stated greek Undersecretary of Environment, Town Planning and Public Works, ms.Elisavet Papazoi, but she also stressed that everybody should know that Kozlodui covers 40% of Bulgaria's energy needs.

Ms.Papazoi agreed that the Kozlodui nuclear plant should close after the country receives international economic assistance, and she concluded that the dangers from the use of nuclear energy are considerable, adding that Greece is heading the region's "anti-nuclear lobby".

[05] STRONG EARTHQUAKE MEASURING 5,8 ON THE RICHTER SCALE SHOOK THE ISLAND OF RHODES IN SOUTH-EASTERN AEGEAN

Strong earthquake measuring 5,8 on the Richter scale shook the sea region south of the south-eastern Aegean island of Rhodes at 10:01'am this morning.

The earthquake was also felt in the southern Aegean island of Crete and in many other islands in the Dodecanesse. Until now there was no information on the extent of the damages.

[06] THE TECHNICAL DIRECTORS OF THE BALKAN NEWS AGENCIES WILL MEET IN THESSALONIKI

The Technical Directors of the Balkan national news agencies will meet in Thessaloniki on April 29 and 30 in order to discuss two very important programmes which will be materialized by Macedonian Press Agency, MPA, after an agreement with the other Balkan news agencies.

Specifically, will be discussed the establishment of a Balkan News Bank which has already started to materialize by MPA and is financed by the INTERREG-II community programme. Also, will be discussed the Diavlos programme that has already been submitted to the EU for approval which provides for the link up, via satellite, of all the Balkan news agencies with MPA's Balkan News Bank in Thessaloniki.

The meeting will be officially opened on Monday by Minister of Transportations and Communications mr.Kastanidis and will be attended by Euro-Deputy mr.Papakyriazis who will convey the EU's support to the important initiatives undertaken by Macedonian Press Agency.

In the meeting will participate the Technical Directors of the following Balkan national news agencies: ATA from Albania, BTA and BIP from Bulgaria, TANJUG from Yugoslavia, ANA and MPA from Greece, MPB from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, ROMPRES from Romania and ANADOLU from Turkey. The news agencies of Slovenia and Bosnia will participate in the meeting as observers. Also, present in the meeting will be the General Directors of the bulgarian BIP and FYROM's MPB news agencies.

[07] A EUROPEAN POPULAR PARTY DELEGATION WILL MEET WITH THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH IN CONSTANTINOPLE

A European Popular Party delegation will arrive in Constantinople today and will meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos.

The party's delegation visits the Ecumenical Patriarch for the first time and is expected to have a discussion on a wide range of issues, such as, the role of the Orthodox Church in Europe, environmental issues and other issues of general interest.

This will be the first meeting of a European Parliament political group with the Ecumenical Patriarch. The European Popular Party delegation will be made up of its president mr.Martens, and 6 greek Euro-Deputies from the main greek opposition party of New Democracy.

[08] GREEK BIOLOGY PROFESSOR MR.KAFATOS WAS HONOURED FOR HIS WORK BY THE CZECH REPUBLIC'S ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

The Czech Academy of Sciences in the Prague awarded the highest medal of honour to greek biology professor Fotis Kafatos for his scientific work.

Mr.Kafatos is a professor in Athens University since 1972, while he has also taught and in Harvard University. He is a member of the University of Crete Administration Committee and founder of the university's Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Institute.

Since 1993 he is the director of the Molecular Biology European Laboratory based in Heidelberg.

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