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Friday, 22 November 2024
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Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 97-04-30Cyprus Press and Information Office: News Updates in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>News UpdateWednesday, 30/04/97CONTENTS
[01] Annan hopes for three rounds of direct talks on Cyprus this summerThe UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said yesterday that if all goes well he expects to have a face to face meeting in June between President Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash."I do hope that the two leaders will come prepared to work with me to resolve this long standing conflict," he said, replying to a question from a Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation reporter during a global forum organised by the CNN cable news network in Atlanta, Georgia. "If the June talks go well", he added, "we would hope to have two more sessions and hopefully have a clear indication by August or September whether we are going to make real progress or not". He said that therefore there will at maximum be three sessions this summer, if all goes well. He said that if he could not be present, the talks would be chaired by his recently appointed special adviser, Diego Cordovez, a former Ecuadorian foreign minister who, as a UN under secretary general, headed negotiations on Afghanistan in the late 1980s. [02] Permanent Five backs UN Secretary-General's push for direct talks on CyprusAmbassadors of the five Permanent Members of the Security Council, together with senior experts from capitals, met yesterday at UN headquarters in New York to discuss the Cyprus problem.Also attending the meeting were representatives of the United Nations Secretariat, including UN Special Representative Han Sung Joo, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General Mr Diego Cordovez, Deputy Special Representative Gustave Feissel, and the Under Secretary General for Political Affairs, Sir Kieran Prendergast. A press release issued afterwards said that the meeting had been briefed by the UN Secretariat on recent developments concerning the Secretary- General's mission of good offices. "The Permanent Five representatives reaffirmed the unacceptability of the status quo in Cyprus. They underlined the importance of achieving a comprehensive settlement to all outstanding issues in respect of Cyprus. They discussed in detail how this objective might best be achieved. The Secretary-General will bear in mind the various suggestions made during the discussion" the statement said. "The P-5 representatives expressed their full support for the Secretary- General's mission of good offices, including the intensified preparations currently underway to prepare for the early convening, under the aegis of the United Nations, of direct negotiations between the leaders of the two Cypriot communities as called for in Security Council Resolution 1092 (1996). They called upon those leaders to co-operate fully with the Secretary-General, and to help create a climate of reconciliation and mutual confidence so as to promote the holding of direct negotiations within the next two or three months", the statement concluded. Moreover, UN spokesman Fred Eckhart speaking to reporters in New York, said: "I understand that there is at least one paper circulating at that meeting. But it is not a United Nations proposal, it is from one of the permanent members", but did not identify the author of the paper. He said Annan "feels that the situation in Cyprus has deteriorated and that any effort that could help improve the atmospherics there would be a plus. That is his minimal objective for this year." [03] Clinton sees need to improve the climate for negotiations in CyprusUS President Bill Clinton in his bi-monthly report to Congress yesterday, April 29, on the progress towards a negotiated settlement of the Cyprus question, expressed disappointment that the parties in Cyprus "have not implemented alternative measures to reduce tensions along the cease-fire lines,"He said: "As Secretary Albright noted at her confirmation hearings, the parties need to take further steps to reduce tensions and improve the climate for negotiations. He added, however, that "the decision by Cyprus, at our urging, to defer importation of components of the SA-10 system for 16 months is a step in the right direction and provides us with a window of opportunity to make progress in resolving the Cyprus issue". The President said that, despite disappointments and setbacks, "The United States remains committed to promoting a Cyprus settlement but needs the full co-operation of the parties, including Greece and Turkey, to achieve our mutual goals." "We continue to see that the only way forward is direct, good faith negotiations between the parties themselves. The United States will continue to work toward bringing these negotiations about", he concluded. [04] Ciller says there is enough common ground for direct talks on CyprusTurkey's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mrs Tansu Ciller, speaking before the Turkey-EC Association Council meeting in Luxembourg yesterday, expressed the belief that "there is enough common ground for the early resumption of direct talks between the two leaders in Cyprus".Mrs Ciller added that the two leaders should have the possibility of exchanging views directly and in private to fully and freely explore the chances of a settlement and that Turkish Cypriot leader Mr Denktash had reaffirmed, during his recent meeting with the UN Secretary-General, his commitment to the overall objectives and guiding principles for direct talks as early as possible. She said that Turkey favours a freely negotiated, just and durable settlement to the Cyprus problem resting on political equality which is acceptable to both the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. "To this effect, Turkey continues to lend its support as a guarantor power to the good offices mission of the UN Secretary-General. The UN negotiating process has already established the parameters of a bi-communal and bi- zonal solution. The UN 'set of ideas' contains substantial material for a final settlement", she added. As regards accession to the European Union, Mrs Ciller said that "from a legal and political point of view, the vital importance of synchronisation between the full-membership processes of Turkey and of Cyprus, following a solution is self-evident. Against this background, the search for a negotiated settlement has an overall priority". [05] Cyprus protests to UN over cancellation of Apostolos Andreas visitCyprus' Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Nikos Agathocleous, has protested to the UN over the negative stand taken by the occupation regime, which caused an Easter Sunday trip to Apostolos Andreas in the Karpass peninsula by hundreds of Greek Cypriots, to be cancelled.The Cyprus government protested at interference by Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, who wanted to veto names on the proposed list of visitors. From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/Cyprus Press and Information Office: News Updates in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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