Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 09-05-08

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

CONTENTS

[01] HOUSE MISSING PERSONS MARATHON OF LOVE

[02] CYPRUS UNESCO DOPING

[03] CHENS CYPRUS NAVY SUMMIT

[01] HOUSE MISSING PERSONS MARATHON OF LOVE

Acting House President Christos Pourgourides, speaking before the Plenary, stated that the House of Representatives considers the solution of the missing persons issue very important, and for that reason it will intensify its efforts to convince Turkey to comply with the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and cooperate for the effective establishment of the fate of all the missing persons.

In the framework of the Marathon of Love for the Missing, which began on April 30 and will be concluded next Sunday, Pourgourides said that the House of Representatives expresses its sympathy to the tragic families of missing persons.

The Cyprus House once again calls on the Parliaments of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the European Council, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, to exert pressure on Turkey in order to cooperate on the implementation of the UN relevant resolutions aimed at establishing the fate of Greek Cypriot missing persons, Pourgourides concluded.

The Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus, comprising a Greek Cypriot representative, a Turkish Cypriot representative and a UN-appointed official, looks into cases of persons reported missing during the Turkish invasion and during inter-communal fighting in the early 1960s, after Cyprus gained its independence. A total of 502 Turkish Cypriots and 1493 Greek Cypriots were officially reported as missing by both communities to the Committee on Missing Persons, according to the CMP website.

Turkey has so far refused to provide information about the fate of Greek Cypriot missing persons, who were last seen alive in the hands of the Turkish military during the 1974 Turkish invasion.

[02] CYPRUS UNESCO DOPING

The International Convention against Doping in Sport was unanimously adopted by UNESO on 19th October 2005 in the framework of its 33rd session.

Government officials have described the ratification of the Convention as "very important for Cyprus."

The Convention underlines that sport should play an important role in the protection of health, in moral, cultural and physical education and in promoting international understanding and peace.

[03] CHENS CYPRUS NAVY SUMMIT

Participants to the Summit are 21 out of 24 members of the CHENS (Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, United Kingdom and Portugal). Turkey, Malta and Latvia will not attend the meeting.

According to the Defence Ministry, the Chiefs of Navy Commands of Military Staff of the European Union, of the International Military Staff of NATO and of the United States Naval Forces in Europe have been invited to attend. The Chiefs of Navy of the US, Russia, Albania, Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland and Montenegro are also invited.

The Summit started on Thursday will conclude on Friday when Denmark will take over the presidency of CHENS from Cyprus.

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