Cyprus News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-08-17

Cyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] POMAK - PSEKA conference

[02] Spokesman - Meetings with US officials

[03] Britain - Cyprus problem - Negotiations

1610 CYPPRESS:01

[01] POMAK - PSEKA conference

PSEKA General Secretary, Aristodemos Soleas, told CNA here Monday that around 40 representatives from Britain, the US, Australia, Greece, Africa and Canada will discuss problems Cypriots face in their host countries.

Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides will hold a reception in their honour. He is also expected to inform delegates on the latest developments in the protracted Cyprus problem.

According to a preliminary schedule, the overseas Cypriots will hold meetings with Foreign Minister, Ioannis Kasoulides, and political party leaders.

They will be received by Archbishop Chrysostomos and President of the House of Representatives, Spyros Kyprianou.

CNA DG/EC/MA/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1900:CYPPRESS:02

[02] Spokesman - Meetings with US officials

Invited to comment on press reports that the meetings may take place next month, Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides today said such meetings would back efforts to settle the Cyprus problem.

"Both the Cyprus government and the President of the Republic would welcome such meetings, when the President will be in New York for the UN General Assembly," he said.

President Clerides will fly to New York on September 20 and will address the General Assembly on the 25th.

The Spokesman pointed out that such meetings "would benefit consultations now taking place on the Cyprus issue."

He underlined that for these consultations to bear fruit they must "focus on the issues we consider as the most important, namely the resumption of peace talks and matters pertaining to demilitarisation."

Negotiations to settle the Cyprus problem reached a deadlock after Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash announced in January that he will not participate in talks unless his illegal regime in the Turkish occupied areas of the Republic is recognised.

Denktash also said he would not return to the negotiating table unless Cyprus withdraws its application to join the European Union (EU).

EU accession talks with the Cyprus Republic got underway in Brussels last March.

The Spokesman appeared pessimistic over the possibility of a breakthrough during a visit to Ankara by US State Department Coordinator for Cyprus, Thomas Miller.

Miller was scheduled to arrive in the Turkish capital for meetings today.

Stylianides said Miller should come to Cyprus after his Ankara meetings to brief the government on their outcome.

"The prospects do not seem to be very good," he added. The Spokesman refrained from commenting on press reports that Miller is trying to achieve a postponement of the deployment of the Russian-made S300 surface-to-air missile system in Cyprus, scheduled for later this year.

He said the government exchanged views with Miller during his visit here in July and put forward its own positions.

CNA MM/MA/EC/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1935:CYPPRESS:03

[03] Britain - Cyprus problem - Negotiations

Replying to a letter three Conservative MPs had sent to British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, his Private Secretary Rob Read assured the government will do everything possible to end the division of Cyprus.

Conservative MPs Sir Sydney Chapman, Nicholas Hawkins and David Amess wrote to Blair on July 15 to express their concern about the situation in Cyprus, on the occasion of the 24th anniversary since Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37 per cent of the island's territory.

Read's reply, sent in the absence of the Prime Minister abroad, was made known today.

"The government is determined to use the UK's special position - as a guarantor power, a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a member of the European Union - to do all it can to assist the people of Cyprus to achieve a just, equitable and lasting solution to the sad division of the island," he said.

Britain, along with Greece and Turkey, guaranteed the Cyprus Republic's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, when it granted the island freedom from colonial rule in 1960.

Read said that in welcoming the start of Cyprus' accession talks with the EU, in March, the UK and its partners "made it clear that they wanted to see progress towards accession make a positive contribution to efforts to find a viable solution to the Cyprus problem and vice versa."

"This remains the government's objective. It wants to see the accession of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation on the basis of a comprehensive political settlement, in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions," he said.

The British Prime Minister's Private Secretary added "this can only be achieved through negotiations between the two sides."

He reassured that the British government is taking every opportunity to persuade all concerned to show the determination and good faith required to achieve this objective.

Efforts to settle the Cyprus problem reached a deadlock in January after Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash announced he will not return to the negotiating table unless his illegal regime in the Turkish occupied areas is recognised.

He also demands that Cyprus withdraws its application to join the EU.

CNA MA/EC/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

Cyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article