November 12, 1954
OUSTING OF MARKEZINIS GROUP: An extremely important economic development with equally important political repercussions has been made public in announcements by the prime minister, Field Marshal Alexandros Papagos, sent to the press at 8 p.m. yesterday by the minister to the prime minister, Mr Giorgios Rallis. They concern letters exchanged by the former coordination minister, Mr Spyros Markezinis and German National Economy Minister Dr Erhardt, when the former headed a Greek delegation (to Germany) last November for economic talks. In his letters, Mr Markezinis mentioned that he was «ready to ensure that the Siemens firm undertakes the technical supervision and expansion of the Greek telephone network, and for the Telefunken firm to enter into a contract to grant a license to operate a radio station and to construct the Greek radio network.» Papagos’s announcement resulted in the immediate resignation of the current coordination minister Mr Thanos Kapsalis, who had accompanied Mr Markezinis on his trip to Germany as deputy leader of the Greek delelgation, and Finance Minister Constantine Papayiannis, a political associate of Mr Markezinis.
