Cyprus Mail: Press Review in English, 98-03-25

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Wednesday, March 25, 1998

Turkey repeats S-300 threats

TUESDAY'S Greek newspapers dealt with a variety of issues, but directed their attention mainly to the latest developments in the Cyprus problem.

Phileleftheros says that the Cypriot government is not making any compromises, at the moment, on the issue of the deployment of the S-300 anti-aircraft missiles.

The paper says that the government has offered to cancel the deployment of the missiles if a no-fly zone is imposed over the island or if substantial progress is made towards the demilitarisation of Cyprus.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry official on Monday said that the arrival of the missiles would be `a very serious cause for conflict.'

On another issue the paper says that Turkish plans to build a nuclear power plant on the southern coast of Turkey poses a grave danger to Cyprus. According to experts the site of the plant is considered seismologically active and thus unfit for such a construction.

Haravghi says that the Cypriot government is under intense pressure from abroad to halt the deployment of the S-300 missiles.

The paper says that the government is now looking for a face-saving way out of the missiles issue. According to Haravghi the government seeks to first postpone and then cancel the arrival of the missiles.

Machi reports that the Higher Technical Institute students are prepared to take more dynamic action if their demands are not met by the government.

According to the paper the students are even thinking about disrupting traffic by blocking main streets in Nicosia to accentuate their view that the government should recognise their qualification as a university degree equivalent.

Agon reports that Diko leader Spyros Kyprianou has had a lot of contacts lately with government ministers and Disy officials in an attempt to upgrade the relations of his party with the governing Disy.

The paper says that Kyprianou had a meeting with Pantelis Kouros at the presidential palace recently. Kyprianou had called Kouros one of the members of a `little junta' around President Clerides during February's presidential elections.

According to Alithia all foreign envoys working on the Cyprus problem are due to meet in Geneva this week to discuss the latest developments in the Cyprus problem.

Top UN envoy Diego Cordovez said that the meeting is indicative of the international community's concern for the impasse in the Cyprus problem.

Simerini is the second paper to highlight plans by Turkey to build a nuclear power station on its southern coast.

The paper says that the House of representatives Environment Committee was due to meet yesterday to discuss the issue. Agriculture and Foreign ministers Costas Themistocleous and Yiannakis Cassoulides were to attend the session.

On another issue the paper says that there is a possibility of a strike by Limassol hotel employees. They are complaining that Limassol hotel owners are not fulfilling their obligations under the collective agreements.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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