Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 97-10-04
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 04/10/1997 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Inflation drops sharply to 4.9 per cent in September
- Foreign ministry considering response to "Observer" claims
- Dutch royal couple to visit Greece next week
- Mirage 2000 raised
- Cabinet takes decisions on operation of TV stations
- Neolithic gold jewellery to go on display
- Mastic's benefits for oral hygiene presented
- Government to float 20 per cent of DEP on bourse
- Papoutsis to propose doubling of EU's renewable energy sources
- Weather
- Foreign Exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Inflation drops sharply to 4.9 per cent in September
Greece's annualized consumer price inflation rate dropped to 4.9 per cent
in September from 5.6 per cent in August, the National Statistics Service
(ESYE) announced yesterday.
In September 1996, annual inflation was recorded at 8 per cent.
According to the ESYE, the general Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.7 per
cent in September, compared to an increase of 2.3 per cent in the same
month of 1996. The CPI increase in September was shaped as a result of a
0.5 per cent drop in foodstuffs, a 9.6 per cent increase in clothing and
footwear and a 4.3 per cent increase in durable consumer goods.
On the outlook for inflation in October, ESYE Secretary General Nikos
Karavitis said it appeared from estimates that the downward trend would
continue.
Foreign ministry considering response to "Observer" claims
The foreign ministry said last night that it would "examine the effect on
the country's good reputation" of a report alleging the existence of
Kurdish rebel training bases in Greece, which appeared in the British
newspaper "The Observer" on Sunday.
The ministry "will adopt all necessary measures, which are presently being
studied," a statement said.
Reacting to "the continuing statements of Turkish officials, who, with
groundless and libelous accusations, are trying to implicate Greece in
issues of terrorism," the statement stresses that Greece's standing
position on terrorism is to cooperate closely at all international levels
in order to deal with terrorism effectively.
"Greece supports respect for the human rights of all peoples in the world,
while for the Kurdish problem there is a stated position of the European
Union, according to which there must be a political solution so that the
rights of the Kurds, which are violated by the Turkish government today,
are respected.
"Offices of Kurdish organisations exist in Greece, as in almost all
European countries, even in the United States, as long as the relevant laws
are observed, without this meaning that these countries are abetting
terrorism.
"The Observer report, based on the account of a Kurd who lived in Germany
until the beginning of the year, is, of course, beyond the ethics of
journalism, and it is deplorable that a serious British newspaper was drawn
into it, adopting a classic provocation," the foreign ministry added.
"Of the fabrications, which comprise it, nothing is new. Some of these
inaccuracies have already appeared since 1991, and have at various times
been promoted by circles wishing to increase tension in Greek-Turkish
relations," the statement concluded.
Both Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos and government spokesman Dimitris
Reppas said yesterday that Athens would choose "the right place, method and
time" of responding to the "Observer" article.
Meanwhile, "The Observer" has received several protest letters over its
report that Greek intelligence agencies were allegedly connected to the
Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK).
Critics include playwright Harold Pinter, who was recently in Greece for a
film festival, and Lord Avebury, listed by Turkey as persona non grata for
his efforts in support of human rights for the Kurdish minority.
The Greek ambassador to London Vassilis Zafiropoulos, who was in touch with
the British Foreign Office over the press report, also condemned it as a
fictitious and based on information from a "suspect person with a suspect
past."
Dutch royal couple to visit Greece next week
Queen Beatrix and Prince Klaus of The Netherlands are to visit Greece next
week at the invitation of President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos.
The royal couple is expected on the evening of Oct. 6 in Corfu, where they
will spend the night. They will meet President Stephanopoulos in Athens the
following day, in the presence of the foreign ministers of the two
countries.
The Dutch royal couple will later attend an official luncheon hosted by
Prime Minister Costas Simitis, followed by a visit to Parliament President
Apostolos Kaklamanis and official dinner with Mr. Stephanopoulos in the
evening.
On Wednesday, Beatrix and Klaus will visit the Great Meteoron monastery in
Meteora, and will attend a briefing session on organisational matters for
the 2004 Olympic Games at Zappeion Hall in the afternoon, to be followed by
a visit to the merchant navy captains' school in Piraeus. They will attend
a concert by the Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet at the Athens Concert
Hall in the evening.
Queen Beatrix and Prince Klaus will depart for Thessaloniki on the
following day, where they will visit the Treasures of Mount Athos
exhibition and inaugurate an exhibition with works by 20th century Dutch
engravers at Villa Melissa.
Mirage 2000 raised
The Hellenic Air Force Mirage 2000 aircraft which crashed into the sea off
the island of Skyros earlier this week, trapping its pilot in the cockpit,
was raised from the sea yesterday and placed on a floating platform.
According to first estimates, the plane is salvageable.
Cabinet takes decisions on operation of TV stations
The Cabinet yesterday took decisions aimed at putting in order the
operating framework of television stations in Greece in order to ensure
"legality, transparency and quality".
Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said the decisions were based on the
law and presidential decrees.
Announcing the decisions, he said the government would grant operating
licences to 111 regional stations of the 250 currently broadcasting, apart
from the local stations in Attica.
Six stations will have the right to broadcast nationwide, while eight
frequencies would be allotted to stations in Attica other than those
six.
Mr. Reppas said both the local and national stations would be obliged to
cover the entire area for which they have been granted a licence.
He added that the National Radio and Television Council (ERS) would be
upgraded and particular emphasis placed on respect for and protection of
the personality of citizens, minors and private life.
Quality, he said, would not be imposed by laws and censorship, but by means
of self-regulation.
Neolithic gold jewellery to go on display
A unique, priceless collection of Neolithic gold artefacts seized by police
in a swoop operation as it was about to be sold overseas by smugglers, was
turned over to the State yesterday in a ceremony at the culture ministry.
The priceless collection will be put on permanent display at the National
Archaeological Museum in early December.
The collection of 54 gold rings, beads and pendants, dating back to the 5th
millennium B.C., was about to be sold to a 'customer' abroad for an
estimated 2 billion dr.
Undercover police officers, posing as buyers, confiscated the collection
and arrested a private security guard and a Greek-Canadian four days ago,
after a six-month surveillance operation.
"The (objects) are of unique value, and fell victim to the most extreme
form of crime against our cultural heritage," said Culture Minister
Evangelos Venizelos at the ceremony, adding that they were of "immense
archaeological signifance".
It is the largest quantity of gold jewellery of the Neolithic era ever
found, according to Dr. Ekaterini Dimakopoulou, director of the National
Archaeological Museum in Athens, an expert on the prehistoric period.
The treasures weigh a mere 232 grams in total, but their value to
researchers of the Neolithic age is inestimable.
Mastic's benefits for oral hygiene presented
Chewing mastic, the unique substance produced only on the eastern Aegean
island of Hios, helps children strengthen their jaw muscles, leading to the
elimination of one of the causes of orthodontic problems, a professor at
Sweden's Goeteborg University said on the island yesterday.
On the second day of a symposium on mastic, professor Stavros Koiliaridis
said that one in three people had orthodontic problems that were directly
related to underactivity of their chewing system.
A random study of children between eight and 10 years old, he said, showed
that chewing the hard mastic reduced the problems.
He said the studies needed to be continued to determine more specific
details.
Chewing the product, from local mastic trees which was so valued by Ottoman
Empire rulers that it resulted in the island being granted special status
before the Greek Revolution, has also been found to remove dental
plaque.
The Union of Mastic Producers of Hios, who organised the symposium, markets
mastic as chewing gum, using pure xylitol, a natural product used to
replace sugar. Union representatives said no other chewing gum uses xylitol
because it is too costly.
Government to float 20 per cent of DEP on bourse
Development Minister Vasso Papandreou announced yesterday that 20 per cent
of the Public Petroleum Corp.'s (DEP) shares will be made available to
investors through the Athens Stock Exchange.
The issue was discussed at a Cabinet meeting yesterday and, as announced,
the necessary preparations will have been completed by the end of November,
but entry to the bourse will depend on market conditions.
DEP is the largest commercial and industrial group in Greece and the second
company in size after the Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE).
Its consolidated revenues exceeded 690 billion drachmas in 1996, its
consolidated profits 28 billion drachmas and it employs about 3,000 people
in all. DEP also owns two refineries covering about 50 per cent of the
country's refining capacity.
Papoutsis to propose doubling of EU's renewable energy sources
EU Commissioner for Energy Christos Papoutsis intends to propose an
integrated strategy to the European Commission aimed at doubling renewable
energy sources in the Union by 2010.
Mr. Papoutsis made the statement during a conference entitled "Energy
Management - Local and Regional Development and Employment", organised on
Rhodes.
Mr. Papoutsis said the target is to save energy through the promotion and
development of renewable energy sources, reaching 12 per cent by 2010.
The conference, held under the auspices of the European Commission, was
attended by many experts and local government officials from European Union
member-states.
Mr. Papoutsis said 476,000 new jobs could be created in Europe through the
use of renewable energy sources, compared to 72,000 expected from
investments in conventional technologies.
Weather
Cloudy weather with scattered showers and storms and a drop in temperatures
is forecast for most parts of Greece today particularly in the east and
south. The weather will gradually improve from the northwest. Winds,
northerly, moderate to strong, turning gale force in the Aegean Sea.
Possibility of rain early morning in Athens Partly cloudy in Thessaloniki.
Foreign Exchange
Friday's closing rates - buying US dlr. 278.068
Pound sterling 446.678 Cyprus pd 530.323
French franc 46.614 Swiss franc 190.638
German mark 156.622 Italian lira (100) 16.020
Yen (100) 227.882 Canadian dlr. 202.269
Australian dlr. 202.775 Irish Punt 401.859
Belgian franc 7.589 Finnish mark 52.199
Dutch guilder 139.073 Danish kr. 41.162
Swedish kr. 36.648 Norwegian kr. 39.303
Austrian sch. 22.274 Spanish peseta 1.856
Port. Escudo 1.538
(S.S.)
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