In Brief
CYPRUS TALKS
De Soto rejoins talks, Denktash issues warning UN Special Advisor to Cyprus Alvaro de Soto returned to Nicosia yesterday where he will meet Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash today to continue talks on reunifying the divided island. Denktash warned yesterday that if Cyprus joined the EU before a resolution, the Turkish-ruled north would «hermetically» seal the border. PLAYER IN LIMBO Cypriot government to debate case of footballer from north A Nicosia Cabinet meeting next week will resolve whether to grant Cypriot citizenship to a Turkish-Cypriot soccer player – who abandoned his team in the north to play for the Greek-Cypriot team AEK Larnaca which rejected him on the grounds of ethnic impurity – Cypriot Interior Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou said yesterday. He said the case of Sabri Selden, 22, was a sporting and humanitarian matter, and not a political issue. AEK Larnaca President Stavros Xenis resigned on Wednesday after fans expressed objections to the club signing a Turkish player. UNWELCOME VISITORS Turks violate Greek, Cypriot airspace Turkish violations of Greek national airspace quadrupled in the first quarter of 2002 from the same period in 2001, rising to 759 from 178, according to figures made public yesterday. Turkish violations of air traffic regulations rose to 710 from 128 for the same periods. Government spokesman Christos Protopappas said the violations aimed to distract international observers from the Cyprus talks. Nicosia yesterday complained to the UN over Turkish violations of its air space earlier this month. Kalenterides A former state intelligence officer, Major Savvas Kalenterides – who accompanied Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan to Kenya during a disastrous Greek attempt to grant Turkey’s most wanted man a refuge in February 1999 – will receive 29,347 euros in libel compensation from daily Eleftherotypia, an Athens court ruled yesterday. Kalenterides sued the daily after it declared he had participated in potentially subversive activities and was paid to enter the state elite War Academy. Cyprus weddings Greek and Turkish Cypriots can now legally marry each other in Cyprus after Nicosia’s approval yesterday of a draft law which also allows Turkish Cypriots to marry outside the Turkish-occupied north. Olympic Real Estate The foundation of Olympic Real Estate SA – a new company which will finance projects for the Athens 2004 and handle them after the Olympic Games – was approved yesterday as part of a broader law on corporate governance. Several PASOK MPs who had previously opposed the law’s provisions voted for it. Ferry routes The timetable for ferries leaving Piraeus for islands of the Aegean, the Dodecanese and Crete will include an extra 136 trips to cope with extra passenger demand over Easter. The extra trips, 87 of which are destined for the Cyclades, start today and end on Sunday, May 12. Ferry departures over the summer – April 1 to October 31 – will total 16,060 from Piraeus (to 49 ports), 3,463 from Rafina (to 10 ports), and 17,990 from Piraeus to 15 Argosaronic ports, the ministry said. Arms-crazy A Cyprus court yesterday sentenced a senior officer of the National Guard to eight years in jail. Lt. Col. Savvas Soutziis pleaded guilty to charges of illegal possession of weapons and ammunition. Railway works Services on the Kifissias-Piraeus electric railway (ISAP) will be suspended between Tavros and Piraeus after 10 p. m. today due to work on the tracks, ISAP said yesterday. Trains will run as normal between Kifissia and Tavros. Keeley distinction Greece has awarded Edmund Keeley, the US author and translator of Greek literature, with the Order of the Phoenix.
