Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 01-02-12

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

CONTENTS

[01] NATIONAL ECONOMY MINISTER AT ECOFIN TODAY

[02] SPECIAL VESSEL SPOTS HELICOPTER WRECKAGE

[03] REPPAS ON THE NEW ATHENS AIRPORT AT SPATA

[04] STRONG REACTION BY PASOK DEPUTY PAPATHEMELIS CONCERNING THE NAME OF

[05] THE GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON THE ASIA MINOR GREEK POPULATION GENOCIDE

[06] NEW PERIOD IN THE RELATIONS BETWEEN GREECE AND INDIA

[07] THE IOC VICE-PRESIDENT WILL BE IN ATHENS ON THURSDAY

[08] GAINS WERE RECORDED IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

[09] GREECE'S CHIEF OF STAFF CONDUCTS VISIT TO FYROM

[10] WOMAN TO BE RETRIED FOR BOMB AT U.S. CONSULATE

[11] GREEK-BULGARIAN POLICE COOPERATION

[12] INTERVENTION BY TWO EURO-DEPUTIES FOR THE PROTECTION OF CARETTA-CARETTA

[13] HUMAN GENOME MAPPING: A STUNNING ACHIEVEMENT

[14] THE GREEK LANGUAGE IS THE RICHEST IN THE WORLD WITH 5 MILLION WORDS

[01] NATIONAL ECONOMY MINISTER AT ECOFIN TODAY

The Minister of National Economy and Finance Yiannos Papantoniou is presently in Brussels to attend the ECOFIN meeting, where the Greek economy's first Stability and Development program is expected to be adopted, according to a European Union treaty.

ECOFIN is expected to make suggestions on the Labor Market, Social Security and structural changes.

National Economy undersecretary Christos Pachtas is also scheduled to discuss the issue of Greece's preparation for the implementation of the 3rd EU Support Framework, with European commissioner Michel Barnier, who is responsible for European Union regional policy.

A.F.

[02] SPECIAL VESSEL SPOTS HELICOPTER WRECKAGE

A special vessel has detected human bones and articles as well as the fuselage of the tragic helicopter that crashed off the coast of Sounion on January 14.

The chopper crashed while carrying a patient from Patmos to Athens. The helicopter's fuselage was transferred to Lavrion.

A.F.

[03] REPPAS ON THE NEW ATHENS AIRPORT AT SPATA

The responsible government ministers do their duty having as a goal the operation of the new Athens Airport at Spata before the end of March, stated Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas, adding that there is no disagreement between minister of environment, public works and land planning Kostas Laliotis and transportation and telecommunications minister Christos Verelis.

Mr. Reppas, referring to the Spata Airport, underlined that it will be the biggest airport in Europe and it will change the scene in the area of air transportation in the wider region.

[04] STRONG REACTION BY PASOK DEPUTY PAPATHEMELIS CONCERNING THE NAME OF FYROM

Greek governing socialist party of PASOK parliament deputy Stelios Papathemelis reacted strongly to the press reports on imminent developments in the issue concerning the name that will be used by FYROM.

Mr. Papathemelis tabled a question in parliament directed to Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou. Mr. Papathemelis underlined that according to rumors from Skopje, the Greek side has presented a tempting package of offers to the FYROM side aimed at persuading the country's government to agree to put in front of the name "Makedonija" the adjective "Nova" or "Dolna". Mr. Papathemelis stated that if the rumors are true it will be a big blunder on behalf of the Greek diplomacy.

He stated characteristically that in such a case FYROM will win a big victory as in essence Greece will pay them to agree to use the term Macedonia as a name for their country.

[05] THE GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON THE ASIA MINOR GREEK POPULATION GENOCIDE DAY

Historical events that refer to the past should not affect political relations between the two countries. None can delete history, stated among others Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas, when he was called to comment on Turkey's demarche to the Greek ambassador to Ankara in protest to the decree that is up for approval by the Greek president recognizing September 14th as Asia Minor Greek Population Genocide Day.

Mr. Reppas stated that the specific presidential decree is being promoted to be signed in accordance with the 1998 law that was voted through unanimously in parliament and refers to the Memorial Day for the Asia Minor Greeks.

Historical facts must be respected and become lessons, said Mr. Reppas, adding that what is necessary to do now and in the future is to work in order to avoid to ever return to such a past. Mr. Reppas also stated that peace, stability and security must prevail in the region with mutual respect and mutual benefit.

[06] NEW PERIOD IN THE RELATIONS BETWEEN GREECE AND INDIA

The visit of prime minister Kostas Simitis to India laid the foundations for a new period in bilateral relations, stated Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas, adding that Greece wants to improve bilateral relations and further expand cooperation between the two countries.

Mr. Reppas stated that Greece wants the further improvement of political relations with India, adding that a new chapter is opened for the development of bilateral economic and trade relations.

[07] THE IOC VICE-PRESIDENT WILL BE IN ATHENS ON THURSDAY

International Olympic Committee, IOC, vice-president Jacques Rogge is expected to be in Athens on Thursday to be briefed on the course of the 2004 Olympic Games projects.

Mr. Rogge is scheduled to meet with "Athens 2004" organizing committee president Ms. Yianna Angelopoulou-Daskalakis, minister of environment, public works and land planning Kostas Laliotis and undersecretary of sports Giorgos Floridis.

[08] GAINS WERE RECORDED IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index increased by 0.83% at 3.195,89 points, while the volume of transactions was satisfactory compared to last week's sessions at 144.2 million Euro or 49.137 billion drachmas.

Of the stocks trading today the majority namely, 313 stocks, recorded gains and 35 had losses, while the value of 23 remained stable.

[09] GREECE'S CHIEF OF STAFF CONDUCTS VISIT TO FYROM

Greece's Chief of Staff Gen. Manousos Paragioudakis is presently on an official three-day visit to Skopje, on the invitation of his counterpart in FYROM Jovan Andreevski.

Their talks are to focus on issues of bilateral military interests, while during his stay in the neighboring country, Mr. Paragioudakis is to observe a military exercise in FYROM.

A.F.

[10] WOMAN TO BE RETRIED FOR BOMB AT U.S. CONSULATE

Thessaloniki's chief prosecutor has ordered the retrial of Kaleanthi Agelioglou, 23, who received a five-month suspended sentence last week for planting a gas canister bomb outside the U.S. consulate in Thessaloniki in April 1999.

According to the prosecutor, enough evidence was presented during the trial to show that the bomb had put human lives at risk. The court had found that Agelioglou was an "amateur" and convicted her of possession of explosives.

A.F.

[11] GREEK-BULGARIAN POLICE COOPERATION

Greek and Bulgarian police officials will meet at the border outpost of Ormenio tomorrow to continue the dialogue they started at the border crossing of Promachonas last Friday.

Their first meeting focused on undertaking joint actions against crime at the Greek-Bulgarian borders, while they also discussed ways to deal with illegal drug trafficking, prostitution and smuggling.

The intensification of bilateral contacts between Greek and Bulgarian police officers is in continuation of the agreements signed by Greek minister of public order Michalis Chrisochoidis and Bulgarian interior minister Emanuil Iordanov.

[12] INTERVENTION BY TWO EURO-DEPUTIES FOR THE PROTECTION OF CARETTA-CARETTA

Greek Euro-deputies Rodi Tsagaropoulou-Kratsa and Antonis Trakatellis called on the European Commission to determine the immediate measures Greece must take for the protection of the Caretta-Caretta sea turtle in the Ionian Sea island of Zakynthos in view of the appeal against Greece that will be discussed in the European Community Court and given the fact that a condemning ruling has already been issued on a similar case against the region of Kouroupitos, Chania in Crete.

The two Euro-deputies called on the European Commission to determine the compensatory measures the Greek government must take and clarify if compliance with the European directive for the protection of eco-systems and the wild flora and fauna means that exchanges of pieces of land, compensations and land confiscation are necessary.

[13] HUMAN GENOME MAPPING: A STUNNING ACHIEVEMENT

In what has been hailed as a stunning achievement, the mapping of the human genome was released today, thus providing a sort of guide for the genetic characteristics of man.

The mapping of the human genome is the result of the science community's ten-year effort to fully comprehend the genetic structure of humans in order to combat diseases such as diabetes or cancer, and even drug addiction, with a greater degree of success. Genes are DNA sequences which control proteins, the machinery that comprises, builds and operates all of the body's cells.

With the completion of the human genome sequence, researchers realized that humans possess far fewer genes than originally believed; specifically, a mere 30,000 genes, which is just a few hundred more than a mouse.

One of the discovery's parameters is that environment carries a dominant role in the development of the human organism, which is not solely determined by genes.

This week's issue of Science contains the report of the sequencing of the human genome from a group of authors led by Craig Venter of Celera Genomics.

Greek scientist Dr. Aris Patrinos, the US Department of Energy genome program director, who played a key role in coordinating the international effort, has characterized the human genome sequencing as a more significant achievement than the split of the atom or the landing on the moon.

A.F.

[14] THE GREEK LANGUAGE IS THE RICHEST IN THE WORLD WITH 5 MILLION WORDS

The Center of Macedonian Studies organized a lecture in New York a few days ago on the significance of the Greek language and alphabet in the preservation of cultural heritage.

Among the topics presented were also the dangers faced by the Greek language because of the European Union as many academicians observe that the Greek language is being altered considerably through different processes such as, the use of the Latin alphabet in the e-mails, the abolition of accents, the likely abolition of vowels and the generalized use of the vowel "i" aimed at making the writing of the Greek language easier.

Speaker Vagia Karantidis, clinical psychologist, child psychologist and internationally recognized ancient Greek philosophy scientist, issued a warning by saying that if the Greeks want to promote the values of their race they must learn about their past. She referred in detail to the creation of the alphabet and the significance of every symbol-letter, stressing that the Greek language is the richest in the world with 5 million words and 70 million word types, according to the 1990 Guinness Book of Records, while the English language has only 490.000 words. She also underlined the meaning of the alphabet in a language as the letters symbolize specific qualities.

She also stated that the Greek language is the basis for all European languages with words of immense audio-visual notional beauty, adding that the language of a people expresses the way it communicates and thinks and it is inconceivable for a language that is spoken for over 5.000 years to be forgotten, pushed aside and suffer a war against it.

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