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Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-10-09Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] PM Karamanlis confers with new education minister; 'reforms will continue'Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Tuesday met with new Education and religious Affairs Minister Evripidis Stylianidis, as talks expectedly revolved around crucial education issues and reforms -- a top priority of the current Karamanlis government."Education reform is continuing," Stylianidis said, an indirect refutation of a bevy of recent press reports claiming that the government has "froze" recently passed measures. Stylianidis, a recent deputy foreign minister, said reform efforts for higher education will continue, while noting that he is in contact with the academic community. Finally, he expressed his best wishes for the recovery to Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece. Caption: File photo of Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. ANA-MPA [02] Papandreou interview ahead of party electionMain opposition PASOK party was on the verge of electing a new Parliamentary group leader when party president George Papandreou requested a confidence vote from his deputies, shortly before the new government's policy statements were presented, the latter said.In a live interview with a private Athens television station, aired on Monday evening, Papandreou said this would have been the case if his request for a confidence vote was rejected by party MPs. Papandreou said his next move would have been to resign as Parliamentary group leader, without clarifying if he would have resigned from party leader as well. Papandreou revealed that on evening of the election, Sunday, Sept. 16, Evangelos Venizelos (his rival in the PASOK presidential election race) was among those to whom the public statement he intended to make was read out, while adding that the latter had voiced no objections at the time. He also stated that Venizelos, a top PASOK cadre and former minister, had "concealed" his moves. Referring to January 2004, when he became PASOK party president, he said that he took over the party's reins to "limit an anticipated and crushing defeat as much as possible." The former foreign minister also referred to mistakes, as he said, he made over the past three and a half years, stressing that from now on party cadres, who publicly express different positions from those unanimously adopted by party's bodies, will face with sanctions. "Those different opinions undermined the party", he underlined. He also referred to the role played by business interests and stated that he will fight against the manipulation of politics by private interests and the mass media. In case of defeat in the Nov. 11 party presidency race, he said he will stand by the new leader and continue to fight for PASOK. Papandreou said he is not asking for a "blank cheque", insisting on "real party unity" and warning that results will be negative if the rise to power is the only criterion set by PASOK. Caption: File photo showing the exterior of main opposition PASOK party's headquarters in downtown Athens. ANA-MPA [03] Turkey's Gul receives Ecumenical PatriarchNew Turkish President Abdullah Gul, until recently the country's foreign minister, on Tuesday received Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos (Bartholomew I), with the latter later describing his meeting with Turkey's head of state as "satisfactory" and "positive".The Patriarch said he raised the problems being faced by the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch and asked for their solution on the part of the Turkish state. Caption: A file photo of Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos, dated Nov. 30, 2006. ANA-MPA / D. PANAGOS Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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