Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-10-06

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

CONTENTS

[01] FOUR GUILTY, ONE INNOCENT

[02] THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION IS POSITIVE TOWARD TURKEY

[03] GREEK PARLIAMENT DELEGATION MEETS WITH THE EU-TURKEY JOINT

[04] THE INQUIRY COMMITTEE FINDINGS ON THE CHINOOK CRASH

[05] ROUSOPOULOS ON TURKEY'S EU ACCESSION COURSE

[06] LOSSES IN THE ASE

[07] THE ACTING GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE CHINOOK CRASH FINDINGS

[08] THE ACTING GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE ECONOMY

[09] SPILIOTOPOULOS: NEED TO SAFEGUARD TRANSPARENCY IN EUROPEAN ARMAMENTS

[10] MITSOTAKIS UNDERWENT EYE SURGERY

[01] FOUR GUILTY, ONE INNOCENT

Members of the terrorist group ELA, Christos Tsigaridas, Angeletos Kanas and Kostas Agapiou were found unanimously guilty by an Athens court, while Irini Athanasaki was found guilty by majority. The fifth defendant, Michalis Kassimis was acquitted.

The three were found unanimously guilty for weapons and explosives possession, as well as for a number of explosions, while they were found to be accomplices in the killing of police officer Apostolos Vellios and 48 homicide attempts.

The prosecutor, after the announcement of the court decision, began presenting his position regarding the sentences that will be imposed.

[02] THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION IS POSITIVE TOWARD TURKEY

The European Commission with its report on the progress made in Turkey's westernization gives the green light to the opening of accession negotiations with the EU.

The European Commission calls for the establishment of a monitoring mechanism to guarantee that Ankara will observe its democratic commitments.

Ankara characterizes the report as historical, while Athens sees the contents of the report positively.

However, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that he does not think that his country will become a member of the European Union before the year 2019.

[03] GREEK PARLIAMENT DELEGATION MEETS WITH THE EU-TURKEY JOINT PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE DELEGATION

The Greek Parliament European Affairs Committee delegation headed by its chairman and A' Parliament vice-president Sotiris Hatzigakis reiterated its support to Turkey's European prospect in the meeting with the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee delegation headed by its Turkish co-chairman Aydin Dumanoglu.

Greece supports Turkey's European prospect, said Mr. Hatzigakis, pointing out that with Turkey's accession into the EU the problems between the two countries will be closer to a solution and as a result peace, balance and security in the region will be consolidated.

On his part, Mr. Dumanoglu stated that Turkey's accession into the EU will become a starting point for the solution of many of the problems faced by the two countries.

[04] THE INQUIRY COMMITTEE FINDINGS ON THE CHINOOK CRASH

The displayed lapse from duty and the bad coordination between personnel and bodies which, based on the existing orders and procedures, were authorized to monitor military flights and the specific flight in particular which was of special interest, are blamed for the delay with which the responsible agencies and hierarchy were informed of the September 11 Chinook crash that killed 17 people, among them, Pope and Patriarch Petros of Alexandria and All Africa.

The above are mentioned in the inquiry committee findings on the conditions and causes leading to the delay in information, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Defense.

[05] ROUSOPOULOS ON TURKEY'S EU ACCESSION COURSE

The view that a European Turkey will benefit not only the Turkish people but stability, security and prosperity in the region as well, was expressed by Minister of State and government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos on the occasion of the European Commission Progress Report on Ankara's EU accession course. He also said that a European Turkey will benefit the course of the Greek-Turkish relations and the efforts for a fair, viable and functional solution in Cyprus

Mr. Rousopoulos stated that Greece backs Turkey's European prospect but it is mainly up to Turkey to decide on the pace it will adopt in its course toward Europe. The European Commission report confirms the correctness of Greece's stance in this case, said Mr. Rousopoulos.

On the contents of the European Commission report, Mr. Rousopoulos pointed out that the European Commission confirms that a significant progress has been made by Turkey on a number of issues and proposes the opening of accession negotiations with the European Union. He also underlines that the efforts made by Turkey must continue and intensify.

The European Commission report will be studied by Greece and all EU member-states in view of the decisions to be made in December regarding the opening of Turkey's EU accession negotiations, added Mr. Rousopoulos.

[06] LOSSES IN THE ASE

Losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -0.39% at 2376.31 points, while the volume of transactions was at 137,7 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 118 had gains and 148 had losses, while the value of 137 stocks remained unchanged.

[07] THE ACTING GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE CHINOOK CRASH FINDINGS

Acting government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros stated that a statement will be issued by the Ministry of Defense within the next few hours when asked to comment on the findings concerning the Chinook crash and the delay with which the news about the accident came out.

Responding to relevant questions, the acting government spokesman stated that the statement to be issued by the Ministry of Defense will include all real events for society to be better informed. However, the findings will not be given to publicity unedited because it includes personal data of the army officers involved in the case, said Mr. Antonaros.

[08] THE ACTING GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE ECONOMY

The Greek government has a duty to present the real state of the economy and that's what it did, stated acting government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros when asked to comment on the statements made by the Eurostat general director according to which, the way the previous government had recorded defense spending is the most advisable based on the EU legislation, while the method used is the first choice.

Mr. Antonaros added that Eurostat itself had repeatedly expressed in the past its objections to the figures provided by the then Greek government, while when asked if the current Greek government continues to characterize as distorted the figures provided by the previous Greek government, he responded that the figures concerning the economy as a whole did not give the exact picture of the deficit.

[09] SPILIOTOPOULOS: NEED TO SAFEGUARD TRANSPARENCY IN EUROPEAN ARMAMENTS

The need to adopt a common prevention system to safeguard transparency given the great defense volume of the European states, was stressed by Greek Minister of Defense Spilios Spiliotopoulos during his meeting today with Britain's Armaments Minister Lord Bach of Lutterworth and the Deputy Ministers of Defense of Germany, Italy and Spain, Peter Eickenboom, Filippo Berselli and Francisco Pardo Piqueras respectively.

In the meeting they also discussed issues concerning defense industry cooperation and the safeguarding of transparency in the European armaments programs.

Earlier, Mr. Spiliotopoulos had a meeting with assistant NATO secretary general Marshall S. Billingslea.

[10] MITSOTAKIS UNDERWENT EYE SURGERY

Governing party of New Democracy honorary president Konstantinos Mitsotakis underwent a scheduled eye operation this morning.

The former Prime Minister while leaving Hygeia Hospital in Athens after the operation greeted the reporters and joked by saying that the way he views politics has not changed after the operation.

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