Turkey must respect the European Union and its principles and values if the country is to approach the 25-nation bloc, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said in an interview published yesterday. Karamanlis, in Barcelona for the Euromed Summit of European and Mediterranean states, reiterated Greek support for Turkey’s entry into the EU in an interview published in the Spanish conservative newspaper ABC. “This (behavior) must be reflected in Turkey’s attitude toward its neighbors,” Karamanlis added.

The Cypriot government accused Turkish troops occupying the island’s northern part of taking advantage of efforts to remove barricades from a Nicosia shopping street by building a bridge on land deemed to be part of the buffer zone. Government spokesman Kypros Chrisostomides said that the status quo in the area was being upset by work to build a footbridge giving Turkish Cypriots access to Ledra Street. He said it would lead to a Turkish guard post being placed in the buffer zone.

Four youths smashed the window of a car belonging to the Georgian Embassy in Athens and set the vehicle on fire, police said on Saturday. Nobody was hurt in the incident, which took place in the Exarchia district of central Athens. It was not clear why the car was destroyed by the youths.

A 38-year-old man was killed and another man was seriously injured when a fight broke out among 14 foreign nationals in the Ambelokipi neighborhood of Thessaloniki, police said yesterday. Five men were arrested by officers after neighbors reported the incident. Police believe the argument broke out because of personal differences. The nationality of the men involved was not made public.

Police arrested two men in Athens on Saturday night after checks on underage drinking at some of the city’s bars showed a dozen minors had been allowed to enter two establishments. Officers found 12 children under the age of 16 drinking in the bars where the two unnamed suspects were responsible for health and safety regulations.

A 40-year-old foreign national in Athens has been charged with raping and sexually abusing two girls and a baby, court sources said on Saturday. The unnamed man allegedly abused the 12- and 14-year-old daughters of the woman he lived with, also a foreign national, as well as the 2-year-old baby daughter he had with the woman.

An earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale struck south of Crete in the early hours of Saturday morning. No injuries or damage were reported.

Five crew members on board a 48-meter boat off the island of Tinos were hauled to safety by helicopter after their vessel, the Moby Dick, started taking on water yesterday, the Merchant Marine Ministry said. The Honduras-flagged vessel was some 25 miles west of Tinos when it sent out the call for help in windy conditions. The crew members, all foreign nationals, were unhurt.