Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-01-14

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

CONTENTS

[01] GREEK TOURISM CAMPAIGN OF 31 MILLION EURO

[02] BARTHOLOMEW MEETS IRANIAN PRESIDENT

[03] PROTOPAPAS: THE EDITOR OF THE LIST IS DEPLORABLE

[04] THE CYPRUS ISSUE WAS DISCUSSED IN THE PRIME MINISTER'S MEETINGS IN THE

[05] SIGNIFICANT LOSSES IN THE ASE

[06] KAKLAMANIS-ARCHBISHOP DIMITRIOS MEETING

[07] THE GREEKS ARE DIVIDED OVER THE PROSPECTS OF 2002

[08] SIMITIS: GREECE'S INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ARE UPGRADED

[09] OLYMPIC MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE MEETING

[10] SIMITIS-PAPANTONIOU EUROARMY MEETING

[11] AUSTRIAN ARRESTED IN CHANIA

[01] GREEK TOURISM CAMPAIGN OF 31 MILLION EURO

The promotional campaign of Greece on international television media (CNN, Euronews, Eurosport, etc.) as a tourist destination is beginning tomorrow, with a budget of 10,271,460 euro. One month later, a similar campaign will begin in all European countries in the Press, as well as with posters, etc. the total budget of which is 8,804,108 euro.

The total funds to be used in advertisement for the new tourist period, is about 31107850 euro, 2934703 euro of which, concerns the US market, where a special effort will be made to "win back" US tourists. Thus, diplomatic tourist relations must be upgraded, there must be serious investment in promotional funds and cooperation with public relations professionals is necessary.

Besides, on January 22, at the National Tourism Council meeting, specific answers will be given for problems of the tourist market due to the crisis, as well as a series of initiatives, directions and priorities (i.e. proposals for the adjustment of the developmental law) which connect tourist activity with financial and regional development directly.

[02] BARTHOLOMEW MEETS IRANIAN PRESIDENT

The President of Iran met with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew yesterday, in the framework of Mr. Bartholomew's visit to Iran, which started on Friday.

Mr. Bartholomew is the first religious leader to visit Iran after the 1979 revolution, and he characterized his meeting with the Iranian leader as heartfelt and very human. The two men agreed that interreligious discussion is necessary.

We are open to this discussion, as we have always been open to all discussions. We have nothing to fear, we love people, stressed Mr. Bartholomew. Furthermore, he praised the efforts made by Mr. Hatami on changing and reincorporating, and he characterized him as a pioneer of dialogue.

Yesterday morning, Holy Mass was performed by Mr. Bartholomew in the Greek Orthodox church of the annunciation, in the presence of the few members of the Greek Orthodox community of Tehran. The church was built 52 years ago, but only functions twice a year because there is no priest.

The four-day visit of the Ecumenical Patriarch to Iran, is taking place 3 weeks after the interreligious meeting at Brussels, and is especially important since it is expected to contribute to the better acquainting and cooperation among monotheistic religions.

During a meeting he had with the delegation of the Center for Interreligious Discussion, Mr. Bartholomew invited the President of the Organization for Culture and the Islamic Arts, Mohamed Aragi, to Fanari, who reserved his answer.

It should be noted that Iran is the second Muslim country after Bahrain, to invite and welcome Mr. Bartholomew. Today, the Ecumenical Patriarch will meet with the leader of the Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Homeini.

[03] PROTOPAPAS: THE EDITOR OF THE LIST IS DEPLORABLE

The editor of the list is deplorable regardless of who he is, stated Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas, referring to the list of names, among them government ministers and parliament deputies, allegedly involved in terrorism.

He said that questions should be raised on who were those who drew up the list in question and in what environment.

Mr. Protopapas stated that the government works hard and in a systematic way to combat terrorism and the stories, that circulate on the issue, are not helpful.

When he was asked on whether the government has evidence in its possession that make it optimistic that terrorism will be eradicated, the government spokesman stressed that the government gets its optimism from the serious work it does.

[04] THE CYPRUS ISSUE WAS DISCUSSED IN THE PRIME MINISTER'S MEETINGS IN THE US

The developments on the Cyprus issue were extensively discussed during the Prime Minister's visit to the United States, stated Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas. Mr. Protopapas stated that the issue was raised in the meetings the Prime Minister had with UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general special envoy on Cyprus Alvaro de Soto, US President George Bush and US Vice-President Dick Cheney as well as, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Donald Runsfeld.

Mr. Protopapas stated that the Prime Minister expressed support to Cypriot President Glafkos Clerides' initiatives for a viable and fair solution of the Cyprus problem within the framework of the UN decisions. He also called on both Mr. Annan and Mr. Bush to undertake all necessary initiatives for the Turkish side to enter the dialogue for a solution to the Cyprus issue.

Mr. Protopapas also stated that Cyprus' EU accession course is not associated with the solution of the Cyprus problem.

[05] SIGNIFICANT LOSSES IN THE ASE

Significant losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -1.97% at 2.523,85 points, while the volume of transactions was at 87.9 million Euro or 29.9 billion drachmas.

Of the stocks trading today, only 25 recorded gains and 303 had losses, while the value of 19 stocks remained unchanged.

[06] KAKLAMANIS-ARCHBISHOP DIMITRIOS MEETING

Greek parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis stated that it is unfair to blame only Greece because of the lack of results in the battle against terrorism because the Greek agencies cooperate for many years now with many agencies around the world. The statement was made after the one-hour meeting, Mr. Kaklamanis had in Athens today with Archbishop Dimitrios of America.

Mr. Kaklamanis stressed that Greece makes huge efforts against terrorism. He also launched an attack on US circles that do not express the official US position, stressing that they express positions that do not correspond to the feelings of the Greek people toward this massive criminal phenomenon.

The Greek parliament president stated that the Greek agencies are in cooperation with the FBI for the past 15 years, while in the past 3 years they cooperate with Scotland Yard and many other intelligence agencies from around the world. Therefore, he said, it is unfair to blame only the Greek side, stressing that the efforts made are on the right track.

Mr. Kaklamanis gave the assurance that the Greek people and the political world in Greece have the will to deal with the phenomenon of terrorism. He also expressed to Archbishop Dimitrios the support of the Greek people to the US concerning the victims of the September 11 terrorist attack.

Archbishop Dimitrios thanked the Greek people for their moral and financial support to the American people and characterized the Greek parliament as a holy place of peace and justice.

[07] THE GREEKS ARE DIVIDED OVER THE PROSPECTS OF 2002

An opinion poll conducted by Gallup International Association showed that 37% of the 65.051 citizens from 70 countries, who answered its questionnaire, are optimistic regarding the prospects of 2002 compared to 2001. A 30% believes that there will be no serious changes compared to the previous year, while the rest 27% votes in favor of 2001.

In Greece, the opinion poll was conducted by the ICAP polling company on a sample of 1.000 people over the age of 15. Of those questioned, 40% believe that this year will be better than last year, 18% believe that nothing will change, 35% believe that things will become worse and 7% responded that they do not know.

Last year, Greece was the most pessimistic country among the EU member-states but this year is accompanied by other three countries, namely, Portugal, France and Italy which are also pessimistic.

The most optimistic country in the world is Kosovo where 8 in 10 people stated that 2002 will be better than 2001. The most pessimistic countries this year are Turkey, Zimbabwe and Poland where 68%, 68% and 51% respectively believe that 2002 will be worse than 2001.

[08] SIMITIS: GREECE'S INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ARE UPGRADED

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis characterized his visit to the United States as very good in the meeting he had today with Archbishop Dimitrios of America, who is on a visit to Greece. The meeting attended members of the Greek-American delegation accompanying the Archbishop and undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Yiannis Magriotis.

The Prime Minister in his statements pointed out that the outcome of his visit to the United States is evaluated within the overall framework of international contacts and the continuous exchange of views. Mr. Simitis underlined the role played by the Archbishop of America as thanks to him the climate in the United States has become friendly toward Greece and can help the country in the future. He also said that Greece's international relations are upgraded.

The Archbishop had meetings with parliament president Apostolos Kaklamanis and Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou, while later in the afternoon he will have contacts with the political party leaders.

[09] OLYMPIC MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE MEETING

The ministerial committee on the Olympics is meeting today, presided over by Prime Minister Kostas Simitis. It will mainly be occupied with the issue of security in the 2004 Olympics, and preparations in view of the upcoming inspection by the IOC on January 21.

[10] SIMITIS-PAPANTONIOU EUROARMY MEETING

Prime Minister Kostas Simitisis is meeting with Minister of Defense Giannos Papantoniou, today at the Maximos Hall, preparing tomorrow's KYSEA (Government Council of National Defense) meeting.

The meeting of KYSEA will have the Euroarmy and the armament programme as its main issues. Commissions of more than 1 billion Euro for the Skaramagas shipyards are also expected to be approved.

[11] AUSTRIAN ARRESTED IN CHANIA

The Chania police station is still temporarily holding the 40-year-old Austrian, Carl Johan Letl, who was arrested two nights ago at the Chania airport, after an INTERPOL message.

According to police authorities, the 40-year-old killed a Vienna restaurant owner, and then fled, by plane, to Greece. His extradition is expected within the next few days.

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