Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 96-07-25

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From: "HR-Net News Distribution Manager" <dist@hri.org>

CONTENTS

[01] Agathocleous meets Albright

[02] Greek Cypriot fishermen to appear before illegal court

[03] Meningitis cases under scrutiny, Spokesman says

[04] Government ready to comply with military accord

[05] French Minister in Cyprus next week

[06] Governments pinpoints non-solution causes

[07] Denktash ''Jeopardises'' military dialogue

1140:CYPPRESS:01

[01] Agathocleous meets Albright

Albright has also briefed a closed session of the UN Security Council on her visit last week to Nicosia, Athens and Ankara and on the agreement reached concerning a meeting between the Commander of the National Guard and the Commander of the Turkish occupation forces on the island.

Agathocleous has met with the UN Department of Political Affairs to protest against the visit to the occupied areas of Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan on July 20, 1996, marking 22 years of Turkish military occupation of 37 per cent of Cyprus' territory.

Meanwhile, Cyprus' Charge d'Affaires to the UN, Kornelios Korneliou, has expressed the government's protest for Erbakan's provocative visit, in a letter addressed to UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

''The visit of the new Prime Minister of Turkey to the occupied areas of the Republic of Cyprus is a clear manifestation of the Turkish intransigence, with regard to the question of Cyprus and is in complete disregard of the relevant resolutions and decisions of the UN on Cyprus'', Korneliou stresses in his letter.

He also notes Erbakan's statement that ''the world should realise that there are two states in Cyprus'' and reminds that the Turkish Prime Minister had ''supported the occupation of the whole island in 1974'', when he was Deputy Prime Minister of the then government of Bulent Ecevit.

He also recalls that such actions are contrary to UN Security Council resolutions 541 (1983) and 550 (1984) which consider the establishment of the regime in the occupied part of Cyprus as ''legally invalid'' and ''call upon all states not to recognise the purported state of the so-called 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' set up by secessionist acts.''

Korneliou has also protested in a letter to the UN Chief against the violation of Cyprus' airspace and of the Nicosia flight information region by Turkish military aircraft on July 19, 1996.

''Such developments only heighten tension in Cyprus as it is also clearly stated in the latest Security Council resolution on Cyprus, 1062 (1996)'', Korneliou points out.

He also notes that ''such unauthorised intrusions'' seriously endanger civil aviation flights over Cyprus and stresses that the new Turkish violations ''of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus are in complete disregard of the UN Charter and the relevant decisions of the Organisation on the question of Cyprus.''

CNA JD/MCH/AP/1996

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1740 :CYPPRESS:02

[02] Greek Cypriot fishermen to appear before illegal court

He said a British UN doctor and UN Australian civilian police visited the two fishermen, both in their twenties, who, he said, are detained in ''the headquarters of Turkish Cypriot security forces in occupied Nicosia.''

''They are in good shape physically, and they were remanded in custody until Monday, when they will appear before a court,'' he added.

Rokoszewski said the UN was working ''for a speedy resolution of this issue, which means their return and the return of their boat, currently held in Famagusta (on the eastern coast).''

Government Spokesman Yiannakis Cassoulides has said here today that the government is also working for the release of Yiannakis Hadjiyiannis, 22, and George Nicolaou, 24, both from the eastern coastal town of Paralimni.

''The Foreign Ministry has already made the necessary steps towards this objective both yesterday and today,'' Cassoulides said.

According to the UN spokesman, the two fishermen are facing ''charges'' of ''illegal entry and violation of military lines.''

The fishermen, he said, have admitted ''crossing the maritime security line, an extension of the UN controlled buffer zone into the sea, which fishermen and boat owners were made aware of through government agencies and UN press releases.''

''We are concerned that many such incidents take place and this may endanger lives,'' he said and noted that last summer there were an average of twenty such incidents a week.

UN attempts to mark this security line with buoys in 1988 and 1989 did not materialise, the spokesman said.

CNA MM/RG/1996

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1815 :CYPPRESS:03

[03] Meningitis cases under scrutiny, Spokesman says

The Spokesman was replying to press criticism that the government was not treating the spread of meningitis cases as an epidemic.

There are now 52 cases of meningitis, most in the southern coastal town of Limassol, affecting primarily young children under the age of two.

''We are taking and shall continue to take all necessary measures to prevent the spread of the disease, a viral infection which has the tendency to affect very young children,'' Cassoulides, a doctor by profession, told the press today.

Meningitis, he explained, ''is endemic in periods of high heat and humidity as it is the case in the unusual period we are going through now.''

He said the organism of meningitis ''lies in our pharynges as a non-pathogen and if atmospheric conditions are such, it may be switched to a pathogen which can be transmitted from one child to another on areas where they come into contact,'' Cassoulides added.

He also said that in spite of concerns caused by the spread of the virus, this was a ''mild form of viral meningitis which can be treated medically.''

''I would not say the 52 cases of meningitis constitute an epidemic'' he added.

Health Minister Manolis Christophides reiterated Cassoulides' assessment on the matter and said ''there is no cause for concern'' assuring the public at the same time that the incidents are pretty straight forward and are effectively treated through medical care.

CNA MM/RG/1996

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1825 :CYPPRESS:04

[04] Government ready to comply with military accord

''The Greek Cypriot side adheres to the agreement brokered by Mrs. Albright, which envisages talks between the Commander of the National Guard and the Commander of the Turkish occupation forces on technical military issues,'' the Spokesman said.

''We shall go to the military talks, as these were agreed last week, once the UN informs us to do so,'' he added.

On their part, the UN told CNA today that they, too, ''are working within the framework of the well known statement by Mrs. Albright last Thursday and she was very precise.''

Albright told a press conference here last week that ''for the first time, the sides have indicated a willingness to convene a meeting of the Commander of the National Guard, the Commander of the Turkish forces in Cyprus, under the auspices of the UN Commander as soon as possible.''

However, Albright revealed on Monday that the Turkish Cypriot side had requested the presence of the self-styled Turkish Cypriot commander at the meeting, a move which the Cyprus government dismisses, as it is outside the agreed framework.

Cyprus President, Glafcos Clerides, told the press earlier this week the Greek Cypriot side shall not participate in the military dialogue if there is a Turkish Cypriot so-called commander.

A UN spokesman today avoided any comment on this matter and told CNA ''I do not want to elaborate on this (the Turkish Cypriot request for participation in the talks)''. He said the question should be referred to either Mrs. Albright, who told the press on Monday in New York the matter was under discussion, or Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash who, presumably, put forward the request.

The UN spokesman said no invitations had been sent yet.

CNA MM/RG/1996

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1940 :CYPPRESS:07

[05] French Minister in Cyprus next week

Speaking at his daily press briefing, Cassoulides said the visit ''is associated with the Cyprus question and Mr. Barnier comes to the island as the representative of the French government to examine ways for progress towards a Cyprus solution in view of last March's European Union decision to start membership talks with Cyprus six months after the end of the Intergovernmental Conference.''

While in Cyprus, Barnier will be received by President Glafcos Clerides, and have meetings with Foreign Minister Alecos Michaelides and UN resident representative Gustave Feissel.

Barnier leaves on Tuesday, July 30.

The EU presidency representative for Cyprus, Irish Ambassador Kester Heaslip will also be on the island early next week. He arrives Sunday for a two-day visit, during which he is expected to have talks on Cyprus' European course and the Cyprus question.

CNA MM/RG/1996

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

2000 :CYPPRESS:08

[06] Government pinpoints non-solution causes

Government Spokesman Yiannakis Cassoulides fully endorsed here today this view, expressed by Greek President, Costis Stephanopoulos, in Athens on Wednesday, to mark the 22nd anniversary of the restoration of democracy in Greece in July 1974, after seven years of military rule.

''I share the view expressed by Mr. Stephanopoulos relating to the three factors which have led the Cyprus problem to today's impasse,'' he said.

The spokesman identified them as ''lack of interest on the part of the powerful nations, the inability of international organisations to implement their decisions and Turkey's intransigence.''

''We hope that fresh impetus would help to overturn the negative image of the past 22 years (during which Cyprus has been divided as a result of the continuing occupation of part of the island by Turkish troops),'' Cassoulides told the press.

The ''new impetus'', he said, related to the appointment of US Presidential Emissary Richard Beattie and that of the British representative for Cyprus Sir David Hannay.

CNA MM/RG/1996

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

2035:CYPPRESS:09

[07] Denktash ''jeopardises'' military dialogue

US Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright has told UN Security Council members that the long sought after meeting between the two commanders was being ''jeopardised'' by the Turkish Cypriot leader, the same sources, privy to Albright's briefing of the Council members, have said.

Denktash insists that the so-called commander of the ''Turkish Cypriot forces'' also participates in the military talks, brokered by Albright and intended to reduce tensions and the likelihood of confrontations along the UN controlled buffer zone.

Albright told a press conference here Monday that the talks would begin before the end of July but that expectation now seems doubtful.

So far, no invitations have been issued by the UN Commander on the island, under whose auspices the talks are due to take place.

Cyprus President, Glafcos Clerides, made it clear earlier this week that the Greek Cypriot side will not attend the talks if the so-called Turkish Cypriot commander is present.

Albright's briefing to Security Council members is believed to have touched on other troublesome developments of the past week, namely the provocative visit of Turkey's Premier Necmettin Erbakan to Cyprus' Turkish occupied areas and repeated violations of Cyprus' air space by Turkish military aircraft.

CNA MM/RG/1996

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

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