Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 97-12-17

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From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>

News Update

Wednesday, 17/12/97

CONTENTS

• [01] President Clinton determined to help resolve the Cyprus issue and Greco-Turkish differences
• [02] Tony Blair says there are no preconditions in Cyprus's EU accession talks

[01] President Clinton determined to help resolve the Cyprus issue and Greco-Turkish differences

President Clinton gave the following reply to a question by the Athens news agency correspondent during a press conference he gave at the State Department on general policy issues:

"The problems between Greece and Turkey, and the decisions taken by the EU with regard to Turkey, seem to me to point to two objectives that the American people should care very much about as we move towards a new century.

First of all, I think it is very important that we do everything reasonable to anchor Turkey to the West. They are a secular, Islamic government that has been a dependable ally of NATO; they have also supported a lot of our operations in and around Iraq since the Gulf War and they have been a good ally of ours. I think that its terribly important. If you look at the size of the country, if you look at its geostrategic significance, where it is, and what it can block and what it can open its doors to, it is terribly important.

Secondly, I think it is terribly important for us to do whatever we can to resolve the differences between Turkey and Greece. They are deeply held, historic, and I am convinced at bottom, ultimately, irrational. to allow the potential that Grece and Turkey both have for future economic growth and cooperation, for political cooperation, for security cooperation, to be broken on the rocks of the differences over Cyprus, and other territorial disputes in the Aegean, is in my view a grave error. So I will be talking to Prime Minister Yilmaz about this.

I want a resolution of the Cyprus issue very badly. You have evidence of that in asking, when I asked, Mr Holbrooke to head our efforts to try to resolve it. And our long friendship, our long alliance with Greece, the role that many Greek-Americans have in our national life, if nothing else, impose on us a heavy responsibility to try to work out the problems on Cyprus.

But the truth is, this is a case where not only does the US need to be on good terms with Greece and Turkey, they need to be on good terms with each other. If they could sort of take off their blinders about each other and look at what they are really up against for the next 30 or 40 years in their neighbourhood, in terms of opportunities and threats, this world would be in considerably better shape moving into a new century.

[02] Tony Blair says there are no preconditions in Cyprus's EU accession talks

MP Donald Anderson asked the Prime Minister a question of "how will the representatives of the Turkish Cypriot community in the joint negotiating team be selected? Will he confirm that the negotiations with Cyprus should start in March, that there will be no preconditions in relation to a political settlement before the agreement, and that, during Britain's presidency of the Union, we will do all we can to ensure that it will be full steam ahead with the Cypriot application?

Mr Blair gave the following reply: "There are no preconditions - that was made clear. Obviously, we want to get the accession negotiations under way as quickly as possible. In the Council conclusions, we asked the President to work in the Commission for the proper inclusion of representatives of the Turkish Cypriot community in the delegation to the accession talks. Quite how they are to be selected is not a matter upon which we should comment - certainly not at this stage. We want to do this as quickly as possible.

I still say, and I think that it is accepted by all those involved, that accession will be easier if we can get a settlement to the Cyprus problem - that is a statement of the obvious - but there are no preconditions in the accession negotiations".

From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/

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