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Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 96-08-06Cyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: "HR-Net News Distribution Manager" <dist@hri.org>CONTENTS
1040:CYPPRESS:01[01] Pangalos and Heaslip discuss CyprusNicosia, Aug 6 (CNA) -- Greece's Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos and European Union Presidency Representative for Cyprus, Kester Heaslip, have discussed the possibility of EU increased involvement in efforts for a Cyprus settlement.According to the Athens News Agency (ANA), the issue has been discussed during the Irish official's current visit to Athens, following his visits to Nicosia and Ankara. Describing Turkish views on the Cyprus problem, conveyed to him by Heaslip, Pangalos said they ''moved in the usual scope''. The Irish diplomat said both the Greek and Turkish Cypriots as well as Athens and Ankara realise the importance of making some progress in the Cyprus problem during the 18-month period until the commencement of Cyprus-EU accession talks. Heaslip is due to visit Nicosia in September when he plans to stay for a relatively long period of time and meet with those, as he has told ANA, who play the major part in efforts for a solution to the Cyprus problem. CNA MCH/GP/1996ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY1220:CYPPRESS:02[02] Cyprus fifth in EU citizens' preferencesNicosia, Aug 6 (CNA) -- Cyprus ranks fifth among twelve candidate countries for accession to the European Union (EU) in the preferences of EU citizens.According to a survey conducted by the European Commission's Eurobarometer Service from January to March 1996 and published in the Newsletter of the EU Delegation to Cyprus, 43,1 per cent of EU citizens favour Cyprus' accession while 35,7 per cent are against it and 21,2 per cent have said they did not know. Of the individual member states, Greek respondents showed the greatest support for Cyprus' accession with 84,8 per cent in favour, followed by the Netherlands with 60,4 per cent, Sweden with 53 per cent, Finland with 51,5 per cent, Britain and Italy with 50,8 per cent and Spain with 49,7 per cent. The survey shows that Hungary is top in EU citizens' preferences, followed by Malta, Poland, the Czech Republic and Cyprus. EU citizens continue to be in their majority, 43,9 per cent against the accession of Turkey compared to 36,4 per cent for. In a similar survey conducted in the summer of 1993, Cyprus' accession was supported by 50 per cent of EU citizens and that of Turkey by 39 per cent. The European Councils at Corfu, Greece, in June 1994 and Essen, Germany, in December 1994 confirmed that the next round of the Union's enlargement would involve Cyprus and Malta. On March 6, 1995 the EU Council of Ministers concluded that negotiations for accession will start on the basis of Commission proposals six months after the conclusion of the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference. Cyprus applied for membership in 1990. This east Mediterranean island republic signed an association agreement with the European Community in 1972 and a customs union agreement in 1987. Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37 per cent of its territory. CNA MCH/GP/1996ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY1410:C YPPRESS:03 Popular Bank and Fidelity Investments join forcesNicosia, Aug 6 (CNA) -- Cyprus Popular Bank and Fidelity Investments, the world's largest independent fund management organisation, have joined forces for the marketing, sale and distribution of Fidelity Funds by the Popular Bank Group. Under an agreement, signed by the two institutions, the Popular Bank becomes the only institution on the island to have the right to market Fidelity Funds locally, and be able to distribute Fidelity products to other international locations where the group maintains a presence. The official distribution of the funds in Cyprus is expected to be launched in September and will be followed by the launching of the cooperation in Greece and Britain. US-based Fidelity Investments' total assets under management amount to over 470 billion US dollars. The agreement will provide the customer base of Popular Bank Group with access to investment opportunities in the world's capital and money markets, satisfying the diverse risk profiles of both individual and institutional investors. The Popular Bank Group currently has full banking operations in Greece, through the European Popular Bank, and in Britain through a network of five branches. It also maintains Representative Offices in Australia, South Africa and Canada. CNA MCH/MM/1996ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY1650 :CYPPRESS:04[03] Buffer zone sovereignty ceded to UN, says spokesmanNicosia, Aug 6 (CNA) -- The government has assigned sovereignty rights to the UN peace-keeping force in Cyprus in the 180-kilometre long buffer zone, dividing the country since the 1974 Turkish invasion, Government Spokesman Yiannakis Cassoulides has disclosed.Cassoulides made this statement in response to press reports concerning possible violation of the UN-controlled buffer zone on Sunday during an anti-occupation ride by Cypriot and European motorcyclists, who set off from Berlin last Friday and are due in Cyprus at the weekend. ''The government has made an agreement with the UN force here envisaging that the force should patrol the cease-fire line and in particular the buffer zone,'' Cassoulides told the press. Asked if the Cyprus government had ceded sovereignty rights to UNFICYP, the Spokesman replied ''Yes, we have ceded sovereignty rights in the buffer zone.'' Replying to questions, he said UNFICYP does not oppose freedom of movement and explained that the UN has a responsibility to convey to the illegal Turkish Cypriot regime a request by Cypriot citizens to visit the Turkish occupied town of Kyrenia, on the northern coast. ''We have the right to free movement but this right is denied to us by the Turkish occupation troops. As far as I know, the UN force does not intend to prevent a motorcyclists delegation from seeking to visit Kyrenia,'' Cassoulides added. If the Turkish occupation regime refuses to grant such a visit, the UN would forbid the remaining motorcyclists, participating in the Berlin to Kyrenia ride, to move on, he explained. Asked if the National Guard has the capability to prevent the Turkish occupation troops from advancing into the buffer zone, he said ''the National Guard is engaged in protecting the territorial integrity of the island's free areas and has sufficient force which acts as a deterrent.'' The National Guard, he added, hopes that the Turkish occupation troops will not attempt to advance their present position. ''The more effective defences we build for the free areas, the more political strength we gain in demanding, through peaceful means, freedom for Cyprus,'' Cassoulides said. CNA MM/AP/1996ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY1700:CYPPRESS:06[04] Government denounces Turkish intentions about Saint SophiaNicosia, Aug 6 (CNA) -- The government has denounced moves by the Turkish government to turn Saint Sophia church, in Constantinople (Istanbul), into a mosque.Government Spokesman Yiannakis Cassoulides described here today Turkish intentions as a ''violation of international practice.'' ''To turn a place, which for centuries has served the Christian religion, into a place of worship for another religion is a violation of international practice,'' he told this daily press briefing. Saint Sophia church, a magnificent example of Byzantine architecture, is now a museum. Cassoulides pointed out that such a move would not come as a surprise to Greek Cypriots, considering that the Turkish occupation regime in Cyprus' occupied areas has gone into great lengths to change the demographic and cultural structure of the Turkish occupied part of the island. A number of Greek orthodox churches and other places of worship in the occupied areas have been either desecrated or pillaged in the past 22 years since Cyprus was divided when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37 per cent of its territory. Constantinople was seized by the Ottoman Empire in 1453 but Saint Sofia church remains the symbol of Orthodox Christians, as the seat of its Ecumenical Patriarchy remains there. CNA AP/MM/1996ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY1730:CYPPRESS:06[05] Cyprus may buy Makarios' exile houseNicosia, Aug 6 (CNA) -- The government is considering buying a house in the Seychelles where the late Archbishop Makarios III was exiled in the mid-1950s, Government Spokesman Yiannakis Cassoulides said here today.''We are looking into the possibility of buying the house,'' Cassoulides said, when asked to comment on a Reuters report which quoted US officials in the Seychelles as saying that the Cyprus government is considering buying the ''Sans Souci'' house. The US officials said on Monday the house, currently the residence of the US Ambassador to the Seychelles, is up for sale and the government of Cyprus is considering turning it into a museum. The late Archbishop Makarios III, who became the first President of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960, spent two years in the house from 1956 after he was exiled from the island for campaigning for Cyprus' independence from British colonial rule. The house overlooks Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles, on the main island of Mache. CNA AP/MM/1996ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY1850 :CYPPRESS:07[06] Police to use ''all available means'' in Sunday's rideNicosia, Aug 6 (CNA) -- The Cyprus police will use all available means to avert any incidents on Sunday, during an anti-occupation ride by Cypriot and European bikers along the UN-controlled buffer zone, police chief Panikos Hadjiloizou said here today.Speaking after a meeting between police hierarchy and the local authorities of towns or villages bordering the route of the ride, Hadjiloizou said ''we are determined not to allow anybody to create any incidents and we shall use all available means for a peaceful anti-occupation ride.'' He said he had asked the local authorities to ''prevent hostile elements from tarnishing the meaning of the anti-occupation ride.'' Local authority leaders expressed their readiness to contribute in a positive manner towards the smooth running of the ride. The chief of police also said police have received information that ''some participants in Sunday's ride might create certain incidents and we want to prevent any of these people from causing any trouble.'' ''We have no intention of confronting anybody but we do not want to allow anybody to disturb the peace of the people who live in the area,'' he said. The political leadership agrees with the measures police intend to take, he added. Police chiefs will visit an area, considered as a likely trouble-spot which lies within the British Bases, to see the place for themselves and discuss moves with the Bases chief of police. The villages of Achna and Brysoulles, which border the buffer zone, are in the territory Britain has retained after it granted Cyprus its independence in 1960. CNA MM/AP/1996ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY1925 :CYPPRESS:08[07] Motorcyclists on the way to GreeceNicosia, Aug 6 (CNA) -- Some 125 Cypriot and European motorcyclists, riding from Berlin to the Turkish occupied northern port of Kyrenia in Cyprus as part of an anti-occupation ride, are expected reach Salonica, northern Greece, late at night.The motorcyclists intend to ride most of tomorrow to catch up with their time schedule, which fell behind because of a detour. They had to bypass Serbia because Belgrade wanted to impose a 25,000 US dollar levy to allow them into the country. Instead they moved on to Romania where the local police, although not informed ahead of time of their arrival, pulled all the stops to help them through the country. Today they covered half the distance they were meant to cover, according to their original schedule. In Greece, they will be joined by another 20 Cypriot bikers to continue their ride to the Greek capital, Athens. They are due to board the ferry to Cyprus at the port of Pireus to be in Cyprus by Saturday to prepare for Sunday's ride to the Turkish occupied coastal town of Kyrenia. The anti-occupation ride is taking place amid fears for the safety of participants because of threats levelled at them by the illegal Turkish Cypriot regime, in the northern Turkish occupied part of the island. CNA RG/MM/AP/1996ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCYCyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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