Cyprus Mail: Press Review in English, 99-07-06

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

Tuesday, July 6, 1999

Speculation rife over new initiative

SPECULATION raged on yesterday's front pages about the content of the planned Cyprus negotiations, with most papers carrying alarmist reports.

_Phileleftheros

_ reported that Ankara had prepared a "plan for the upgrading of the pseudo- state, with recognition as the ultimate objective". The Turkish foreign ministry had already approached "friendly" Muslim countries and encouraged them to send officials to the north -- Bosnia, Pakistan and Tatarstan had already done so.

Rauf Denktash, in line with this policy, had called on Turkic states, which had attended a conference in Turkey, to send delegations to the north and to recognise it, the paper said. Diplomatic sources said that the governments in Athens and Nicosia were aware of Turkey's plans and were working on preventing such moves.

_Simerini

_ said the United Nations had been considering Denktash's request for a meeting with UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan, so that he could explain his views on confederation. Such a meeting, described as "critical" by diplomatic circles, was favoured by the US and Britain as it would act as catalyst and lead Denktash to the negotiating table.

Concern had reportedly been expressed by the Greek Cypriot side, regarding the status that would be given to Denktash by Annan at such a meeting. It was possible that such a meeting could create the grounds for the recognition of the pseudo-state before the October peace talks had even begun.

_Politis

_ gave prominence to the criticism by opposition parties -- Akel, Diko and New Horizons -- against the government and Kofi Annan. The "dilemma between compromise and partition is more topical than ever before" claimed these parties, which believed that a confederation was on the cards.

All of them called on the government to make it clear that it had no intention to discuss the conditions being set by Denktash (for recognition) at the new round of talks. It was clear that statements made recently by foreign envoys had created domestic divisions about the handling of the Cyprus issue.

_Alithia

_ accused Akel and Diko of engaging in a bout of scare-mongering with regard to the planned initiative on Cyprus. It focused on the broadsides fired by Diko leader Spyros Kyprianou against Annan, UN representative Ann Hercus and German envoy Detlev Rantzau.

Kyprianou had accused Annan of "wanting to shelve UN resolutions and of being directed by others so as to impose a confederation". He also said that he had "information from inside (the UN)" that Annan "is a person of no value". Hercus was also trying to impose a federation, he claimed and reminded Rantzau that the late Archbishop Makarios was the first to talk about the "self-determination of Germany back in 1961".

_Haravghi

_ led with a call from the Akel leader Demetris Christofias for collective decision making, through the national council, with regard to the handling of the Cyprus problem. Christofias was quoted as saying that with collective action it would be very difficult to face imminent developments.

He criticised President Clerides for not informing the national council about the draft of the UN Secretary-General's report on Cyprus. If he had, all the parties could have worked together to have the negative points removed from it, Christofias was quoted as saying.

_To Tharros

_ said that Cyprus and Greece faced a "nuclear nightmare" if Turkey went ahead with its plans to build a nuclear power station in Akuyu, in the south of the country. The spot chosen for the station was an earthquake zone, the paper said.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1999

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