Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-05-19
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, May 19, 1998
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] CHANGES IN HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION PROCESS, NO MORE EXAMS
[02] GENOCIDE OF GREEKS FROM PONTOS COMMEMORATED TODAY
[03] PRESIDENT, PM TO OPEN GREEK INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION ASSEMBLY
[04] MORE BANK EMPLOYEES EMBARK ON ROTATION STRIKES
[05] CYPRIOT DEFENSE MINISTER SPEAKS AT SERRES
[06] CN/TL MACEDONIA MANAGER ACCEPTS MAYOR'S RESIGNATION
[07] IMF OFFICALS TELL GREECE TO STEP UP PRIVATIZATION PROCESS
[08] THE RESIGNATION OF MAYOR KOSMOPOULOS HAS BEEN ACCEPTED
[09] MEETING UNDER PRIME MINISTER SIMITIS ON THE OLYMPIC GAMES
[10] PAPANTONIOU-OTOE MEETING
[11] APOSTOLAKIS - BURNS MEETING
[12] PANGALOS COMMENTED ON THE CLINTON PROPOSAL
[13] A GREEK WARSHIP IS VISITING VATUM IN GEORGIA
[14] CALLS FOR THE RECOGNITION OF THE GENOCIDE OF THE GREEKS IN
PONTOS COMMITTED BY TURKEY
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[15] US PRESIDENT, BRITISH PREMIER COMMENT ON CYPRUS ISSUE
[16] CONTACT GROUP REVERSES PART OF SANCTIONS AGAINST BELGRADE
[17] RUSSIAN-GREEK TRADE MAY REACH ONE BILLION DOLLARS
[18] BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER ROBIN COOK VISITS ANKARA
[19] US PROPOSE MISSILE SALES TO GREECE AND TURKEY, 5.5 to 10
RATIO
[20] THE GREEK-RUSSIAN TRADE TRANSACTIONS TURNOVER FOR 1998 COULD
REACH 1 BILLION DOLLARS
[21] A BRITISH OFFICIAL MET WITH CYPRIOT PRESIDENT CLERIDES
[22] GENERAL KARADAYI IN MOSCOW
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] CHANGES IN HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION PROCESS, NO MORE EXAMS
High school students who are to graduate in the year 2000
will not be subject to the grueling state-wide examinations,
according to the new graduation process announced by the Minister
of Education Gerasimos Arsenis.
The curriculum reforms, which will be announced in detail
later today, will also call for examinations in the junior and
senior years of high school twice a year, as opposed to every
three months. Once students graduate from high-school, they will
be able to continue in the university of their choice without
entry examinations.
[02] GENOCIDE OF GREEKS FROM PONTOS COMMEMORATED TODAY
The Genocide of Greeks from Pontus is being commemorated
throughout the country today. The Coordinating Committee of Pontos
Associations demand that the international community exert
pressures on Turkey to recognize the genocide. Two rallies will be
held in Thessaloniki today, where the protesters will march to the
Turkish consulate.
[03] PRESIDENT, PM TO OPEN GREEK INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION ASSEMBLY
Prime Minister Kostas Simitis is to salute the open session
of the annual assembly of the Greek Industries Association (SEV)
which will be held tomorrow and will also be attended by the
President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos.
The Minister of Finance and National Economy Yiannos
Papantoniou will be among the speakers at the event, along with
SEV's Chairman Jason Stratos and the chairman of the German
Industries Association Hans-Olaf Henkel.
[04] MORE BANK EMPLOYEES EMBARK ON ROTATION STRIKES
In protest to the state's privatization plans for the Ionian
Bank, employees at Commercial and Attica banks will strike today.
The employees at Ionian Bank have been on an indefinite
strike for a week, while rolling strikes by bank staff are
scheduled to continue until June 12 when the shareholders of
Commercial Bank vote on whether they will approve the sale of
subsidiary Ionian.
Tomorrow, employees at the state-owned enterprises (DEKOS)
and banks will hold a four-hour work stoppage, a decision issued
by the General Confederation of Greek Laborers (GSEE).
[05] CYPRIOT DEFENSE MINISTER SPEAKS AT SERRES
Visiting Cypriot Defense Minister Yiannakis Omirou gave an
address at the city of Serres yesterday where he stated that
Turkey has embarked on an orchestrated campaign to shift the focus
of the Cyprus issue from what it really is.
Specifically, Mr. Omirou said that Ankara wants to distort
the problem of the island from being one of invasion and
occupation to one of a threat against Turkey because of the
deployment of the Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft missiles on the
island.
Moreover, Mr. Omirou stated that the United States need to
understand that the key to solving the Cyprus issue lies with
Ankara.
[06] CN/TL MACEDONIA MANAGER ACCEPTS MAYOR'S RESIGNATION
The District Manager of the Central Macedonia Charalabos
Sofianos has accepted the resignation of the mayor of Thessaloniki
Konstantinos Kosmopoulos.
The city council is now to convene at a later date which has
yet to be announced.
Mr. Kosmopoulos resigned on Saturday from the city's mayoral
post, after having served in that seat for ten years. While
announcing his resignation, he lashed out against the opposition
party's leader, New Democracy's Kostas Karamanlis, for not having
granted the Thessaloniki mayor his support and for having opted
to support another candidate, Vasilis Papageorgopoulos.
The PASOK-backed candidate for the mayorship is
Thrasivoulos Lazaridis. Elections will be held in October.
[07] IMF OFFICALS TELL GREECE TO STEP UP PRIVATIZATION PROCESS
Officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have
asked the Greek government to step up its privatization process of
the state-owned enterprises, according to the draft report drawn
after a two-week study of the Greek economy.
The report mentions that the privatizations announced so far
are limited and allows room for more, while it also states that
the government's target of containing inflation at 3% by the end
of 1999 is feasible.
[08] THE RESIGNATION OF MAYOR KOSMOPOULOS HAS BEEN ACCEPTED
Regional governor of Central Macedonia Mr. Charalambos
Sofianos accepted the resignation of Thessaloniki's mayor
Konstantinos Kosmopoulos.
Mr. Nikos Tachiaos, the city councilor with the most votes in
the last municipal elections, will announce the date on which the
New Democracy city councilors will meet.
[09] MEETING UNDER PRIME MINISTER SIMITIS ON THE OLYMPIC GAMES
The minister of culture appeared satisfied with the course of
the preparations for the 2004 Olympic Games after the briefing of
prime minister Kostas Simitis by the responsible ministerial
committee.
Mr. Venizelos stressed that the first formal meeting of the
Olympic Games National Committee will be held on June 21 in
ancient Olympia. He added that a decision has been reached
according to which, in the first two years of its operation the
Limited Liability Company 2004 will not employ more than 40
people.
[10] PAPANTONIOU-OTOE MEETING
The initiative undertaken by the president of the Greek
General Confederation of Labor for a meeting of the bank
employees' union (OTOE) representatives with minister of national
economy and finance Yiannos Papantoniou at his office on Thursday
has raised hopes that the crisis in the relations of the
government with the bank employees will be defused.
Meanwhile, a breach has been created in the bank employees'
front after the decision of the Credit Bank employees' union to
call on its members not to participate in the strike action.
[11] APOSTOLAKIS - BURNS MEETING
US ambassador to Athens Nicholas Burns met today with
undersecretary of defense Dimitris Apostolakis, who stated that
Mr. Burns briefed him on a telephone conversation between US
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Turkish foreign minister
Ismil Cem. In her discussion with her Turkish counterpart, Ms.
Albright had stressed that Turkey is making a mistake to dispute
the Greek sovereignty over four inhabited Aegean islands.
On the proposal made by US president Bill Clinton, Mr.
Apostolakis underlined that Greece does not accept the equal
distances rationale, while on the confidence-building-measures he
announced that the permanent representatives of Greece and Turkey
to NATO will meet in Brussels on Saturday.
NATO secretary-general Javier Solana's intention is to win
the adoption of a moratorium on military exercises in the Aegean
to be implemented in the summer months starting on June 15.
[12] PANGALOS COMMENTED ON THE CLINTON PROPOSAL
Greek foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos, responding to a
proposal by US president Clinton for a package solution to the
Greek-Turkish issues and the Cyprus problem, gave the assurance,
in a press conference today, that the Greek national issues will
not be settled as a package.
Mr. Pangalos stated that the term "package" in the diplomatic
language means compromise through mutual concessions and made it
clear that the Greek-Turkish issues can not be dealt with as a
package as there is a number of claims made only from the part of
Turkey.
He said that Ankara's aggressiveness has an unfavorable
effect on the issue of Cyprus and the unfavorable developments in
the Cyprus problem have a negative effect on the Greek-Turkish
relations but the two issues can not be dealt with jointly,
stressed the Greek foreign minister, and added that the situation
in Cyprus concerns the international community as a whole and will
be handled only within the framework of the United Nations.
Mr. Pangalos criticized strongly the persistence of the
United States to dictate to the European Union ways in which to
deal with issues that concern exclusively the EU such as, the
Greek-Turkish relations.
[13] A GREEK WARSHIP IS VISITING VATUM IN GEORGIA
The Greek Navy warship "Aris" has arrived in the port of
Vatum in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia for a three-day
visit, according to the Georgian ministry of defense.
During its visit and within the framework of the military
cooperation between the Greek and the Georgian ministries of
defense for 1998, the Greek Navy officers will exchange views with
their Georgian colleagues.
[14] CALLS FOR THE RECOGNITION OF THE GENOCIDE OF THE GREEKS IN
PONTOS COMMITTED BY TURKEY
The Federation of Greeks from Pontos Associations in northern
Greece and the Greek Federation of Associations of Greeks from
Pontos repatriates, who come from the former Soviet Union,
requested from the Greek government to call on international
organizations to recognize the genocide of the Greeks in Pontos.
On the occasion of today's black anniversary of the genocide,
the federations with the resolution they adopted, called on Turkey
to recognize the crime of genocide it committed and also to
withdraw its armed forces from the occupied northern Cyprus. They
also expressed their opposition to the dialogue attempted by
Ankara which, as they stress in their resolution, disputes
national and sovereign rights.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[15] US PRESIDENT, BRITISH PREMIER COMMENT ON CYPRUS ISSUE
United States President Bill Clinton has stated that Greeks
and Turks have to draw difficult decisions in order to help in
alleviating the rising tension concerning Cyprus.
``We have got to resolve this,'' Clinton told a news
conference after an EU-U.S. summit in London yesterday.
``To get there I think we will have to proceed on many
fronts at once and I think both the Turks and Greeks will have to
make difficult
decisions which I believe the European Union and, I know, the
United States will strongly support,'' President Clinton said.
``I do not think we can solve one problem in isolation from
the others. I think we have to move forward on all these problems,
Cyprus, the Aegean jurisdictional disputes and the role of Turkey
in Europe's future. All of that we have to move forward on,'' he
added.
In turn, British Prime Minister Toni Blair stated that he
"agreed entirely" with Mr. Clinton's remarks and emphasized the
EU's desire for "a good and close relationship with Turkey."
"We have a deep concern over what is happening in Cyprus and
we believe it is essential to make progress in this area", Mr.
Blair said.
"We want Turkey to feel included in the family of European
nations. We have a deep concern over what has happened, and is
happening, in Cyprus and we believe that it is essential we make
progress in this area,'' he said.
``I think we should and will redouble our efforts to give a
very clear signal to Turkey about our proper and true intentions
and also to do what we can to bring hope in the conflict in
Cyprus,'' he said.
Both the US president and Britain's PM stated yesterday that
problems relating to Greek-Turkish relations, Cyprus and Ankara's
European aspirations have to be tackled in a comprehensive manner
and not in isolation.
[16] CONTACT GROUP REVERSES PART OF SANCTIONS AGAINST BELGRADE
The six-nation Contact Group on former Yugoslavia has
reversed its decision to impose new sanctions on Belgrade because
Serb President Milosevic had begun a dialogue with the ethnic
Albanian leadership in its troubled province of Kosovo.
In a statement issued by the British Foreign Office, the
Contact Group said it had lifted an investment ban which had been
imposed at their meeting last week.
While it will also review a freeze on Yugoslav assets held abroad,
earlier sanctions will remain in place.
The statement said that "by choosing dialogue, President
Milosevic had made a clear choice to work with the international
community rather than face deepening isolation."
[17] RUSSIAN-GREEK TRADE MAY REACH ONE BILLION DOLLARS
Russian-Greek bilateral trade turnover may hit one billion
dollars in 1998, a 10 percent rise since 1997 and a continuation
of an upward trend since 1993, Konstantinos Charatsaris, counselor
of economic and trade department, at Greece's embassy in Moscow
told Prime- Tass yesterday.
Mr. Charatsaris said that two groups of Greek businessmen
will visit Moscow and St. Petersburg in June to voice their
investment proposals in construction, ship-repairs, and light and
food industries before Russian partners.
The two countries are running two major investment projects,
the construction of an aluminum works plant and a gas pipeline
for Russian gas supplies in Greece, according to the Greek
diplomat.
Preparations of the Russian Black Sea port in the region of
Krasnodar are currently underway. The Krasnodar region has been
given a ten-million-dollar loan from the Greek government for the
purchase of Greece-made equipment and consumer goods.
[18] BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER ROBIN COOK VISITS ANKARA
British Foreign Minister Robin Cook is to arrive in
Ankara today for a brief, one-day visit.
Mr. Cook is to be received by Turkish President Suleiman
Demirel, Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, and his Turkish counterpart
Ismael Cem.
During their meetings, Mr. Cook will brief the Turkish
officials on his country's positions -following yesterday's
Clinton-Blair talks- towards reaching a solution in the Cyprus
issue and the British government's belief that talks between the
island's two communities need to be restarted, in spite of the
intransigence displayed by the leader of the Turkish-Cypriots Rauf
Denktash.
Moreover, it is expected that the British Foreign Minister
and the Turkish officials are to discuss matters concerning
Turkey's ties with the European Union, in light of the Turkey-EU
Association Council to be held on May 27.
[19] US PROPOSE MISSILE SALES TO GREECE AND TURKEY, 5.5 to 10
RATIO
The United States Pentagon announced yesterday proposed
sales of Hellfire anti-tank missiles to Greece and sea-skimming
Harpoon anti-ship missiles to Turkey, saying they would not hurt
the region's military balance.
The proposed sale of 228 Hellfire missiles to Greece was
worth 24 million dollars, while the proposed sale of 30 Harpoon
missiles to Turkey was valued at 43 million dollars.
"This sale will not adversely affect either the military
balance in the region or US efforts to encourage a negotiated
settlement of the Cyprus question," the Pentagon said, using
identical language in statements on both proposals.
US Defense Secretary William Cohen made clear in a recent
visit to both countries that Washington remains keen to sell arms
to both Athens and Ankara as their military undertake major
investments in new weapons.
The latest proposed sales, which represent a ratio of 5.5
to10, for Greece and Turkey respectively, would add to weapons
already in the Greek and Turkish arsenals.
[20] THE GREEK-RUSSIAN TRADE TRANSACTIONS TURNOVER FOR 1998 COULD
REACH 1 BILLION DOLLARS
The Greek-Russian trade transactions is possible to reach 1
billion dollars in 1998 showing an increase of 10 percentage
points compared to 1997 stated to "Prime-Tass", economic and trade
adviser of the Greek embassy in Moscow, Mr. Konstantinos
Haratsaris.
Mr. Haratsaris stated that two groups of Greek businessmen
will visit Moscow and St. Petersburg in June to discuss investment
proposals in the sectors of reconstruction, ship repair and food
industry.
[21] A BRITISH OFFICIAL MET WITH CYPRIOT PRESIDENT CLERIDES
The head of southern Europe Affairs Department of the British
Foreign Office met in Nicosia today with Cypriot president Glafkos
Clerides and Parliament president Spyros Kyprianou to discuss the
Cyprus issue and issues concerning the European Union and to be
briefed on the latest developments.
Cypriot Parliament president Mr. Kyprianou stated, after his
meeting with the British official, that it is a mistake to
associate the Cyprus issue with issues concerning the relations
between Greece and Turkey or between Turkey and the European
Union.
Mr. Kyprianou stated that the Cyprus problem is an occupation
problem, a problem of violation of human rights and an issue of
Turkey's expansionism. He also characterized the present phase of
the Cyprus problem as most crucial.
[22] GENERAL KARADAYI IN MOSCOW
Russian chief of Staff Anatoly Kvanshin and Defence minister
Igor Sergeyev are due to hold talks today with their Turkish
counterpart General Ismail Hakki Karadayi, who is on a five-day
visit to Moscow since yesterday.
The two sides are expected to sign an "understanding
memorandum" and strive to reach a solution concerning the conflict
over the installation of the S-300 missiles in Cyprus, scheduled
for August.
Earlier today, the Turkish military authorities noted that
Russia's chances to participate in the turkish contracts regarding
the reinforcement of its defence system would depend on the
country's stance to the S-300 missiles issue.
Complete archives of the Macedonian Press Agency bulletins are available
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