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Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-06-15

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, 15/06/1998 (ANA)


MAIN HEADLINES

  • U.S. envoy: Turks to blame for Cyprus impasse
  • Airspace violations
  • Greece urges dialogue on Kosovo
  • Athens meeting on Balkan peacekeeping force
  • Gov't will not backtrack on teacher exam
  • Armenian defence official in Athens for talks
  • Crisis management seminar
  • Two killed in minefield
  • Former FM Papoulias visits Syria
  • Shipping exchange declines
  • Weather
  • Foreign Exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

U.S. envoy: Turks to blame for Cyprus impasse

US Ambassador in Athens Nicholas Burns said he considered Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, personally, and Turkey responsible for the impasse in the Cyprus peace talks, adding that the US would not recognise Denktash as a head of state. He also said the four islands in the Aegean recently disputed by Turkey were clearly Greek, and praised Greece's foreign policy in the Balkans, particularly on the Kosovo issue. In an interview with the Athens daily "Exousia" published today, Burns further expressed great respect for Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis and his government, said he had a close cooperation with Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos, and reiterated the US position that the European Union should keep its door open to Turkey.

Airspace violations

Turkish warplanes today infringed Athens Flight Information Region (FIR) regulations while flying to the region near the island of Gavdos for scheduled exercises in international airspace, according to press sources. The 14 F-16 and F-4 jets infringed the Athens FIR in the area southwest of Chania, Crete. The Turkish aircraft were identified by Greek fighter jets.

Greece urges dialogue on Kosovo

Greece is in favour of every possible effort being made for dialogue to resolve the Kosovo problem so that a solution may be found with peaceful means, government spokesman Nikos Athanasakis said today. Athanasakis made the statement when asked to comment on the participation of Greek air force F-16 fighter jets in NATO air exercises to be held as a warning to ethnic combatants in the troubled Serbian province. The spokesman however declined to say whether Greece would take part in any military operations against Serbia if these are ordered by an international organisation.

Athens meeting on Balkan peacekeeping force

Military experts from seven countries will meet in Athens from June 22-26 to discuss matters related to the creation of a multinational peacekeeping force to prevent conflict in the Balkans. The decision to set up the force was taken at a meeting of the defence undersecretaries of eight countries of southeast Europe and the United States in Tirana last month. The Athens meeting will be attended by delegations from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Italy, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Romania. Representatives from the USA and Slovenia will be attending as observers.

Gov't will not backtrack on teacher exam

The government said today that its new recruitment examination for state school teachers which has caused four days of pitched battles between police and protestors was "completely valid" and would not be repeated. Participation in today's final day of the exam was over 60 perecent, Athanassakis said. A total of 26,000 teachers had sat the exam, of which between five and six thousand would be hired for the new school year. According to the education ministry, a total of 46,400 teachers had registered to take the examination. Unappointed teachers in Thessaloniki, meanwhile, told a news conference today they would challenge the validity of the exam in the courts with "a storm of lawsuits".

Armenian defence official in Athens for talks

Armenian Defence Undersecretary Lieutenant-General M. Abrahamian will pay an official visit to Greece from June 17-20 to attend a graduation ceremony of Armenian cadets at the army's officer training academy in Athens. During his stay here, Abrahamian will have talks with defence ministry officials on military issues of mutual interest. He will also visit a training centre for tank crews and several archaeological sites in the Athens area.

Crisis management seminar

The National Defence General Staff has organised a seminar on crisis handling - entitled "Athens '98" - to be held from June 30 to July 3 within the framework of the Partnership for Peace programme. The objective of the seminar is to brief participants on the means available to the international community for averting or handling crises. So far, political and military representatives from a number of countries have said they will be attending, including from Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Germany, Denmark, Canada, Britain, Norway, Poland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Uzbekistan, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic.

Two killed in minefield

Two soldiers were killed and a third serious injured today near at the Kipi border post in Evros when a mine exploded as they were clearing a minefield. Sergeant Stephanos Pitikakis and soldier Christos Palyvidas died on the spot, while soldier Ioannis Lygeros was in serious condition in Alexandropoulos hospital with serious wounds to his right leg. The three men belonged to the army's special mine neutralising squad.

Former FM Papoulias visits Syria

Ruling PASOK party MP and former foreign minister Karolos Papoulias paid a three-day visit to Syrian June 12-15 at the personal invitation of Syrian foreign minister Farouq al-Shara. During his stay in Damascus, Mr. Papoulias had two lengthy discussions with Mr. al-Shara as well as talks with defence minister Lt.-Gen. Mustafa Tlas and the Syrian parliament president. He also called on Orthodox Patriarch Ignatios IV of Antioch.

Shipping exchange declines

Foreign exchange revenues from shipping declined by 5.5 percent in January, it was announced today. Specifically, remittances by Greek seamen and shipping enterprises in Greek banks fell to 170 million dollars in January this year against 179.9 million dollars in the same month in 1997.

WEATHER

Fair weather is forecast for all parts of Greece today, with local clouds in the afternoon in the central regions. Winds northwesterly, light to moderate. Athens will be sunny with temperatures between 19-31 C. Same for Thessaloniki, changing to overcast in the afternoon, with temperatures of 17-29 C.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Friday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 305.526 British pound 498.678 Japanese yen(100) 211.812 French franc 50.404 German mark 168.957 Italian lira (100) 17.161 Irish Punt 426.362 Belgian franc 8.194 Finnish mark 55.629 Dutch guilder 149.961 Danish kr. 44.394 Austrian sch. 24.037 Spanish peseta 1.993 Swedish kr. 38.103 Norwegian kr. 39.918 Swiss franc 204.352 Port. Escudo 1.652 Aus. dollar 180.757 Can. dollar 208.221 Cyprus pound 571.967

(M.P.)


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