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Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 02-05-29Cyprus 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/>Wednesday, 29 May 2002CONTENTS
[01] 1. Cyprus and USA cooperate to combat international terrorismThe Attorney General of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Alecos Markides, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Ioannnis Kassoulides, had a meeting yesterday with the US Ambassador to Cyprus, Mr Donald Bandler.Speaking to the press, Mr Markides said that the meeting had focused on the international terrorism and the need for further cooperation on international level as well as Cyprus' contribution to this effect. Replying to a press question Cyprus' Attorney General said that they had exchanged views and examined the cooperation existing between the two countries. [02] European Parliament meeting expresses hope for a solution to the Cyprus problemThe deliberations of the 13th Meeting of the President of the European Parliament with the Presidents of the Parliaments of the countries participating in the enlargement process, which took place in Riga, were concluded yesterday with the adoption of a joint communique.The hope that a comprehensive settlement can be found for the future of Cyprus, so that Cyprus as a whole will be able to join the EU, is expressed in the communique. It is also underlined that the solution of the Cyprus problem cannot be a precondition for Cyprus' accession to the EU. [03] British MEP: No date for negotiations on Turkish entry to EU, until Turkish troops leave Cyprus"No date should be set for the opening of accession negotiations on Turkish entry to the EU, until Turkish troops leave Cyprus", Theresa Villiers, a Conservative Member of the European Parliament for London, has stated.Mrs Villiers, is a member of the EU-Cyprus Joint Parliamentary Committee, which held a meeting last week in Nicosia. Addressing the meeting Mrs Theresa Villiers urged her European Parliamentary colleagues to join her in demanding that no date for negotiations on Turkish entry to EU, until Turkish troops leave Cyprus' Speaking from the European Parliament in Brussels, Theresa Villiers said: "As a member of the EU-Cyprus Joint Parliamentary Committee, I attended a variety of meetings, where I emphasised not only the importance of Cyprus being included in the first wave of nations to join the EU, but also my view that no date should be set for the opening of accession negotiations on Turkish entry to the EU until Turkish troops leave Cyprus." "The European Union is based on the principles of respect for fellow member states. As long as Turkish troops remain in Cyprus, Turkey would affectively be ignoring this principle," Mrs Villiers concluded. [04] Direct talks on Cyprus continuedThe direct talks on the Cyprus problem continued yesterday morning with another meeting between the President of the Republic Mr Glafcos Clerides and the Turkish Cypriot leader Mr Rauf Denktash, in the presence of the UN Secretary General's Special Adviser on Cyprus Mr Alvaro de Soto. Present at the talks were the members of each side's delegation.The regular meetings between the President and Mr Denktash are taking place under the aegis of the United Nations in the framework of direct talks for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem. [05] Cyprus protests to the UN against the illegal arrival of Turkish research vesselThe Cyprus Government has strongly protested to the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Anan against the illegal arrival of the Turkish oceanographic research vessel "Piri Reis" at the ports of Kyrenia and Famagusta in the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus, which were declared closed to international navigation by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus, following the Turkish invasion of 1974.In a letter sent yesterday to Mr Anan, Cyprus Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Sotos Zackheos pointed out that " this action constitutes a clear violation of international law, the Charter of the United Nations and most specifically of the relevant provisions of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea. It also flagrantly violates resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council on The Situation in Cyprus", which call, inter alia, for respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Cyprus. Moreover, it falls within the wider context of Turkish refusal to facilitate a solution of the Cyprus problem based on Security Council resolutions." Mr Zackheos in his letter pointed out that this provocation comes soon after Mr Anan's visit to the island earlier this month, in an effort to intensify the ongoing direct talks and to the earlier call, by the Security Council, upon the Turkish side on 4 May, to cooperate in that effort. "On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus, I strongly protest this action that, once more, reveals the real motives of Turkish policy towards Cyprus which, is not the often-proclaimed protection of the Turkish Cypriots, but the furtherance of Turkish expansionist designs and exploitation of the natural resources of Cyprus", Ambassador Zackheos concluded. [06] Customs and VAT on the webThe Department of Customs and Excise and the VAT Service have their own website as from yesterday. The address of the website is and information is available both in Greek and English.The Minister of Finance, Mr Takis Klirides, told a press conference yesterday that the two Departments worked hardly for the preparation of this website, which is a part of their huge effort for modernization and harmonization with the acquis communautaire. 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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