Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 96-12-11

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From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org,cy>

CONTENTS

[01] President postpones trip abroad

[02] President, UN envoy confer on Cyprus

[03] UN Chief reports on Cyprus

[04] Cyprus solution must be based on Human Rights Declaration

1130:CYPPRESS:01

[01] President postpones trip abroad

The President was due to leave later this afternoon for London and then fly on to Dublin to attend a lunch on the sidelines of the European Union summit in the Irish capital.

Foreign Minister Alecos Michaelides will leave today as scheduled.

The National Council, the island's top advisory body to the President on the handling of the Cyprus problem, postponed its meeting scheduled for this morning. The meeting will probably take place next week.

The announcement was made by the President himself to awaiting press at the Presidential Palace after a lengthy meeting with a top UN envoy here today.

''The cold I had over the weekend seems to have developed into bronchitis,'' the President said, adding that the National Council members suggested a postponement of the session.

Parliamentary party leaders, who make up the National Council, left the Presidential Palace after the announcement.

CNA MM/GP/1996

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1150:CYPPRESS:02

[02] President, UN envoy confer on Cyprus

Clerides, Han and his deputy, UN resident representative Gustave Feissel, had a two-hour long working breakfast at the Presidential Palace, in the presence of Foreign Minister Alecos Michaelides, Attorney General Alecos Markides, Government Spokesman Yiannakis Cassoulides and Undersecretary to the President Pantelis Kouros.

Asked if he touched on specific current issues such as the demilitarisation of Cyprus and the issues of security and guarantees, Han replied ''we focussed more on the broader issues than those specific issues just mentioned.''

Han said he would have more to say at a press conference later today.

Han and Feissel leave tomorrow for talks in Athens and Ankara having concluded two-days of consultations here with the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides.

Turkish troops have been occupying 37 per cent of Cyprus territory since 1974, in violation of repeated UN resolutions calling for their withdrawal.

CNA MM/GP/1996

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1445:CYPPRESS:03

[03] UN Chief reports on Cyprus

Ghali notes the use of unprecedented lethal force since the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus and calls on the leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities to reverse the negative trend and try and build trust and goodwill.

He urges both sides to agree on a UN package of measures to reduce tension along the ceasefire line.

Ghali outlines these assertions in his report on the UN operation in Cyprus in which he recommends a renewal of UNFICYP's mandate for further six months as he considers the presence of the force as ''indispensable.''

''There was violence along the ceasefire line, including unnecessary and disproportionate use of lethal force by the Turkish/Turkish Cypriot side, to an extent not seen since 1974,'' the report says.

The atmosphere between the two communities was marked by increasing distrust and hostility, it adds.

Ghali expresses ''serious concern'' about the excessive levels of military forces and armaments in Cyprus and the rate at which they are being expanded, upgraded and modernised.

Referring to last August's demonstrations, Ghali appears very critical of the Cyprus police and the Turkish forces who ''allowed'' demonstrators to cross into the UN buffer zone.

''Cyprus police were on hand, but remained largely passive,'' he says and acknowledges the presence of ''a significant number of members of the Grey Wolves, an ultra-nationalist Turkish organisation, who had arrived from Turkey'' during the demonstration in August.

Turkish forces, the report says, allowed counter-demonstrators and Turkish Cypriot police to enter the buffer zone who ''proceeded to beat the Greek Cypriots with batons and iron bars, killing one civilian.''

The report refers to the killing of a second Greek Cypriot demonstrator by ''Turkish and/or Turkish Cypriot uniformed personnel'' who fired 25 to 50 rounds ''indiscriminately into the crowd inside the buffer zone.''

It also records the killing of a Turkish Cypriot soldier ''by unknown persons'' in an area patrolled by the British sovereign area police and the wounding of a second soldier in the same area.

During the demonstrations, the report says, UNFICYP was placed in an ''invidious position'' and points out that ''controlling the civilian population must remain the exclusive responsibility of the local authorities.''

The authorities on both sides are ''perfectly capable of fulfilling this task and the political leaders have both the formal and the informal means to provide guidance on important security issues and to ensure that it is heeded.''

Ghali says an agreement between the two sides on a number of practical measures (extending of unmanning, prohibition of loaded weapons along the ceasefire line and adoption of a code of conduct) would be ''a significant step forward.''

''Discussions are currently under way on the UN proposals without preconditions,'' the report adds.

On the issue of missing persons, Ghali says ''I am currently considering the merits of continuing UN support to the Committee of Missing Persons.''

UNFICYP comprises 1.162 troops and 35 civilian police from seven countries and the cost of maintaining the force for another six months is estimated at 22,5 million US dollars, and just over 12 m. is assessed on member states.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37 per cent of its territory.

The UN peace-keeping force controls a 180-kilometre long buffer zone across this East Mediterranean island.

CNA MM/GP/1996

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1450:CYPPRESS:04

[04] Cyprus solution must be based on Human Rights Declaration

This is stated by President Glafcos Clerides, in a message to the UN Secretary-General, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

''We in Cyprus, continue to look upon the UN and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a guide to our struggle towards finding a just, viable and lasting solution to our national problem'', Clerides says.

He notes ''significant accomplishments have been made in the promotion of human rights since the end of the Second World War through the UN Charter.''

The Cypriot President points out the need for restoration of the rule of law ''in a way that would secure the prevention of future violations.''

Making special reference to the case of Cyprus, President Clerides notes that the plight of the missing, the displaced and the enclaved is ''a glaring example of flagrant violations of all human rights instruments and non-implementation of UN resolutions.''

Clerides says Turkey imposes by force ''its arbitrary prescription of a partitionist solution, thus violating both individual and collective human rights of the people of Cyprus.''

Turkish troops have been occupying 37 per cent of Cyprus territory since 1974, in violation of repeated UN resolutions calling for their withdrawal.

CNA MCH/GP/1996

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

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