Cyprus Mail: Press Review in English, 99-12-15

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

Wednesday, December 15, 1999

Turkish Cypriots unhappy with Helsinki decision

THE VARIETY of reactions to the Helsinki summit's decision continued to feature prominently in yesterday's front pages. Alithia reported that moaning and recriminations followed the Helsinki decision in the occupied part of Cyprus, forcing Turkey's Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit to criticise the Turkish Cypriot leadership. A similar pattern was evident in the free area, with the pro- government parties hailing the decision as a triumph and the opposition parties dismissing it as a defeat. Ecevit had criticised the Turkish Cypriot leadership for its reaction and spoke of dangers that can arise from inside the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. According to press reports in the north, Rauf Denktash was angry with the decision and had refused to appear with Ecevit on a discussion on TV. Denktash had said that the EU decision is pushing us into integration with Turkey.

Politis said that Denktash was looking for a pretext to quit the UN proximity talks and had already found two - the Helsinki summit decision as well as the UN resolution for the renewal of the Unficyp mandate, which would underline the Security Council's support for a bizonal, bicommunal federation. Entering the UN building, Denktash said he was ready for a settlement within the EU framework only if the union recognised his regime. The future of the New York talks remained unclear. Apart from the uncertainty over whether there would be a second round, it was not yet known whether the UN would issue any statement about the proximity talks.

Phileleftheros, under the headline, 'Turkey will not let go of Cyprus', said that Ankara had adopted a hardline stance on Cyprus but, at the same time, was making openings to Athens for a dialogue on Greek-Turkish issues. A few days after being accorded EU candidate status, the Turkish government had repeated its commitment to a two-state solution for Cyprus. Both Ecevit and Foreign Minister Ismail Cem were quick to respond to criticism both in Turkey and the occupied area about the Helsinki decision. Both underlined that the occupied area was of strategic importance for Turkey. Ecevit said that he was disappointed with all those who thought that he would make any concessions on Cyprus.

Haravghi gave prominence to the criticism levelled against the Helsinki decision by the communist party Akel, which said that no satisfaction is justified. Presenting the party's views, spokesman Nicos Katsourides was quoted as saying that Turkey had been given candidate status without giving anything substantial on Cyprus. The wording of the EU decision, regarding Turkey's obligations in relation to Cyprus, was unclear and subject to many interpretations, he claimed. The same was true of the EU position that a settlement was a precondition for Cyprus' entry. No-one could guarantee that this position would be valid in the future Katsourides said.

Simerini said that the 5.63 per cent fall in the share index of the Cyprus stock exchange did not worry stockbrokers, who felt this was a corrective movement. Brokers said they expected prices to rebound once all the listed companies were traded again. The Association of investors meanwhile had advised the public not to panic about developments. The fall in prices was the result of three factors - profit-taking by many investors who want to invest their money in newly-listed companies; the over-exposure by many investors who need to repay the debts they had taken out; the confusion caused by the new system that replaced the issuing of title certificates.

Machi led with a report about the murder of a 55-five-year- old man at a Limassol tourist complex. A man who was working at the complex as a gardener and had been recently given his redundancy notice was arrested in connection with the murder.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1999

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