Greek Court Rules Bailout Vote Legally Valid

The Hellenic Council of State, Greece's top administrative court, rejected Friday an appeal by two Greek citizens against a referendum on a bailout package from creditors, ruling that the referendum is legally valid.



"The referendum will be held," said the judge Nikolaos Sakellariou.



Greek citizens are due to vote for or against a bailout package, or reforms demanded by the country's international creditors. Opinion polls suggest Greeks are almost evenly split on whether to vote "Yes" or "No."



Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Friday called on voters to reject "blackmail" at Sunday's bailout referendum.



"If the Greeks vote 'No', the Greek position is dramatically weakened," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Luxembourg said Friday.



"The program has come to an end, there are no negotiations underway. If the Greeks vote 'No' they have done everything but strengthening the Greek negotiation position."



Greece's banks have 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to last the weekend, the head of the Greek banking association said Friday.



Greek banks, which were shut Monday after negotiations between Greece and its creditors collapsed, are dependent on the emergency loans from the European Central Bank (ECB).



The ECB has not yet decided to provide further liquidity to Greek banks.



The EU, the ECB and the Euro group are all waiting for the results of Sunday's referendum in which Greeks must vote for or against bailout proposals. - İstanbul