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Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 97-10-22

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 22/10/1997 (ANA)


MAIN HEADLINES

  • Athens welcomes Holbrooke statements
  • Defence minister hails Holbrooke
  • New air space violations
  • Parmenion exercise to be held Oct. 31
  • BSEC countries urge more cooperation
  • Yilmaz, Cem to attend Balkan summit on Crete
  • Greece concerned over Turkish exercise
  • Fourth Greek-Turkish business forum opens in Athens
  • Delors package funds cannot be re-allocated, EU Commission says
  • Greece to see tough 1998 budget
  • Actress' father arrested in drug bust
  • Weather
  • Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Athens welcomes Holbrooke statements

Athens today expressed satisfaction over statements on Tuesday by US special presidential emissary for Cyprus Richard Holbrooke that Turkish harassment of a plane carrying the Greek Defense Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos to and from Cyprus last week was "a fact", blaming the US State Department for not recognising it outright.

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas expressed satisfaction over Holbrooke's statements, reiterating that the position expressed by State Department spokesman James Rubin was "unacceptable and unprecedented".

Reppas in particular referred to the points in Holbrooke's statements criticising the way in which the US State Department handled the issue.

"We have kept the positive positions expressed and recorded the negative ones. What now remains to be seen is how Washington will proceed concerning issues which are in progress and whether Mr. Holbrooke's observations will have practical consequences," Reppas said.

"As far as those who remain quiet are concerned, the evidence in the hands of Greece will convince them to take a stance on the basis of law and the truth," the spokesman added.

In a related development, the Chief of the National Defence General Staff, General (air) Athanasios Tzoganis today briefed the defence attaches of all NATO member-states on the harassment by Turkish warplanes of the aircraft carrying Tsohatzopoulos.

Turkey's provocative behaviour continued today, this time during Tzoganis' briefing of NATO defence attaches at the National Defence Ministry.

As the attaches were requesting clarifications about the harassment incident, the Turkish defence attache said that his country desired good relations with Greece and Cyprus, a fact which, he continued, it had proven in 1974 when, although it could have seized the whole of Cyprus, it seized only half.

National Defence General Staff second-in-command, Lieutenant-General Efthimios Petinis replied:

"We thank you for your magnanimity."

Defence minister hails Holbrooke

Asked to comment today on Holbrooke's statements, Tsohatzopoulos said the US presidential envoy was "near to the reality", adding that "this confirms his credibility as a mediator".

"The question is Turkey's behaviour," Tsohatzopoulos continued, noting that this issue would be raised at the forthcoming meeting of NATO following a request which he himself had submitted to Alliance Secretary General Javier Solana.

In exclusive statements to the ANA, Holbrooke said:

"I have no doubt that the provocative action of the harassment of the aircraft by Turkish fighters indeed happened and I consider it a mistake on the State Department's part that it does not publicly accept this reality."

Holbrooke added that there was no excuse for what happened and it was indisputable when it had been recorded on camera.

"Even if the Greek defense minister was not in the plane, it is an unacceptable action which does not at all help in defusing tension between Greece and Turkey. It is a very serious incident during which human lives were put in danger," he said, adding that he fully understood the fear and anxiety of all those aboard the C-130 transport plane.

State Department spokesman James Rubin said on Monday that the transport flight had violated an agreed moratorium on Cyprus overflights, Mr. Holbrooke expressed the view that Mr. Rubin had not been adequately briefed by the State Department's responsible officials.

Rubin's statements were described as "unprecedented and unacceptable" by Athens.

New air space violations

Three pairs of Turkish F-16 fighter jets infringed the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR) in the area north of Lesbos, informed sources said today.

In all cases, the Turkish aircraft were identified and intercepted by Greek warplanes.

Parmenion exercise to be held Oct.31

A combined large-scale military exercise codenamed "Parmenion '97" will be held from October 31 to November 6 in the Evros region and the Aegean, the National Defence General Staff announced today.

The aim of the exercise, which is held annually, is to train staff officers and military units in the planning and execution of joint operations in a modern warfare environment and in general to enhance the combat efficiency of the armed forces.

The all-service exercise, with the participation also of reservists, will be directed by the Chief of the National Defence General Staff, General (air) Athanasios Tzoganis, reservists will also be called up to take part.

BSEC countries urge more cooperation

A joint statement issued at the close of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation forum underlined the will of the eleven member countries to further develop cooperation in the sectors of the economy, commerce, transport, the protection of the environment and the combatting of narcotics trafficking.

The statement also makes special reference to the organisation's Black Sea Commerce and Development Bank which will be based in Thessaloniki. The member-states underlined the important role which the bank has to play in the development and prestige of the organisation and expressed their will for its full operation at the earliest.

Addressing the meeting this morning, Foreign Undersecretary Yiannos Kranidiotis stressed that Greece would do everything possible for the development of the BSEC.

Member-states which have not yet deposited their financial contributions, he said, should do so by the end of the year so that the bank could begin operating as soon as possible.

Kranidiotis also referred to the Black Sea Centre for International Studies, which will be based in Athens, underlining the important role it had to play in the further development of the BSEC.

On relations between the BSEC and the European Union, Kranidiotis said Greece, as the only BSEC member in the EU, could serve as a bridge between the two institutions.

He said the government would examine ways in which the EU could strengthen the BSEC.

Today's meeting meanwhile rejected a Turkish proposal that the BSEC be headquartered in Turkey. It was decided that the organisation should not have a permanently-based headquarters.

Consequently, ministerial meetings and other BSEC sessions will take place in the country holding the presidency at the time in question.

Taking part in the Kiev meeting were Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.

The next ministerial meeting will be held in Armenia in April next year.

Yilmaz, Cem to attend Balkan summit on Crete

Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and Foreign Minister Ismail Cem will attend the Balkan summit in Crete on Nov. 2-4.

This was confirmed yesterday in a meeting Mr. Cem had in the Ukrainian capital with Foreign Undersecretary Yiannos Kranidiotis on the sidelines of a Black Sea Economic Cooperation Pact conference.

Speaking after the meeting, which was reportedly held in a good climate, Mr. Kranidiotis said that bilateral contacts will take place in Crete, while the Turkish minister pointed out to him that it will be the first meeting between Mr. Yilmaz and his Greek counterpart Costas Simitis.

According to sources, Mr. Kranidiotis conveyed to Mr. Cem Athens' annoyance over recent massive violations and infringements by the Turkish air force all of last week. According to the same sources, Mr. Cem avoided taking a stand on Mr. Kranidiotis' report.

Greece concerned over Turkish exercise

Greece today confirmed that it had expressed concern to Ankara over its plans to hold a military exercise codenamed "Toros" at the same time as the Balkan Summit in Crete early next month.

Govenment spokesman Dimitris Reppas said Foreign Undersecretary Yiannos Kranidiotis had expressed Athens' concern to Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem on the sidelines of a Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) ministerial meeting in Kiev yesterday.

According to the spokesman, Kranidiotis told Cem that if he believed a problem might arise, then Ankara had no other option but to cancel the exercise, in order to eliminate the source of the problem.

Fourth Greek-Turkish business forum opens in Athens

The fourth Greek-Turkish forum begins in Athens today with the participation of about 25 Greek and 30 Turkish business people.

The issues to be examined by Greek and Turkish business leaders at the two- day forum include cooperation in the Balkans and the Black Sea region, Turkey's customs union with the EU, creation of joint ventures between construction companies for projects in the broader Balkan region and the development of cooperation in the tourism sector.

Other issues to be discussed are the avoidance of double taxation and the possibilities of utilising European Union programmes concerning the Balkans and necessitating cooperation between Greece and third countries that are not EU member-states.

In the previous three forums, Greek and Turkish business people struck deals for joint ventures in the foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals sectors. The Athens business forum is expected to be attended by several noted Greek and Turkish businesspeople, including industrialist Rahmi Koc, who is active in the car manufacturing and supermarket sector in Turkey; Esref Cerrahoglu, chairman of the Turkish Chamber of Shipping; Thanasis Lavidas, general manager of the Lavipharm pharmaceuticals company as well as Gina Mamidakis and M. Daskalantonakis, both active in the Greek hotel industry.

Sessions of the forum, to be held at a downtown Athens hotel, will be closed to the public, although the press will be invited for a briefing.

Delors package funds cannot be re-allocated, EU Commission says

The European Commission will withdraw funds earmarked for the defunct Thessaloniki metro project and the construction of the Acropolis Museum, following Greece's proposals related to the second Comunity Support Framework (CSF ), known as the Delors II package.

According to well-informed Commission sources, Greece proposed withdrawing funds for the Thessaloniki metro because no progress has been made on it, as well as the Acropolis Museum because the European Investment Bank (EIB) will fund the project instead .

The funds can be reallocated to other projects.

The commission also accepted the proposal that the planned Attica peripheral road linking the capital with the planned Athens airport at Spata could be included at this date to the CSF funds. The CSF funds cover the period from 1994 to 1999.

The Commission, however, rejected additional proposals by Greece that funds not absorbed by their respective projects could not be reallocated.

According to the sources, the funds should not only not be withdrawn, but the rate of construction should be intensified. These include the Egnatia motorway spanning the breadth northern Greece, funds of which the government wanted to revoke (100 billion drachmas); natural gas networks for average and low pressure (selected projects, totalling close to 135 billion drachmas); the Athens-Patra-Thessaloniki road and the Athens- Thessaloniki railway line, among others.

Greece to see tough 1998 budget

National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou reiterated yesterday that next year's budget had to be tough, as 1998 would be a year of evaluation of the country's progress towards European economic and monetary union.

"Europe is waiting for us to join the single currency especially after the European Commission's projections of a Greek budget deficit smaller than 3% of GDP," Mr. Papantoniou said.

Containing the budget deficit was the government's priority in drafting the 1998 budget. This would be achieved by putting a lid on public spending and implementing a policy of part-floating profitable public enterprises on the stock market, he said.

The budget would be based on a rationalised incomes policy, a tight hiring policy in the public sector and an equitable increase in tax revenue. It would be presented to parliament in the middle of next month, ahead of the November 30 deadline under the constitution, Mr. Papantoniou said.

Actress' father arrested in drug bust

The father of internationally-renowned Greek actress Vana Barba has been arrested near his hometown in northwestern Greece with 17 kilograms of hashish, police said today.

Haralamabos Barbas, 59, was arrested together with three Albanians in a village near Igoumenitsa while trying to sell the hashish to a plainclothes policeman posing as a buyer.

The hashish, stuffed in two sacks hidden in a sewer well, had been smuggled into Greece by the Albanians.

Vana Barba has played in numerous foreign films, but is better known for her role as a prostitute in the Italian film "Mediterraneo" which won the Oscar for best foreign film in 1991.

WEATHER

Local cloudiness with rain is forecast for most parts of Greece today mainly in the western, central and southern regions . Winds will be easterly, southeasterly, light to moderate. Fine weather in Athens with possible rain in the afternoon and temperatures from 10-20C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures between 6-18C.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Tuesday's closing rates - buying US dlr. 275.885 Pound sterling 451.975 Cyprus pd 529.331 French franc 46.388 Swiss franc 187.121 German mark 156.486 Italian lira (100) 15.931 Yen (100) 228.854 Canadian dlr. 199.194 Australian dlr. 201.440 Irish Punt 406.720 Belgian franc 7.540 Finnish mark 51.939 Dutch guilder 138.027 Danish kr. 40.853 Swedish kr. 36.194 Norwegian kr. 38.535 Austrian sch. 22.077 Spanish peseta 1.843 Port. Escudo 1.528

(M.P.)


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