Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 02-06-17

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

Monday, 17 June 2002

CONTENTS

• [01] Group of Eight calls for the intensification of efforts to solve the Cyprus problem
• [02] Cyprus Government strongly protests against the reinforcement of Turkish troops
• [03] Monetary Policy decisions

[01] Group of Eight calls for the intensification of efforts to solve the Cyprus problem

The communique issued on 13 June 2002, after the Foreign Ministers' two-day meeting in Whistler, Canada, where they discussed a range of important global and regional issues, included the following paragraph on Cyprus:

"G8 Foreign Ministers welcomed the resumption of talks aimed at achieving a just, viable and comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem. We urged the two Cypriot leaders, and all others concerned, to intensify the effort to reach agreement and to bridge the remaining obstacles towards a lasting settlement. We welcomed the United Nations Secretary General's recent visit to Cyprus and endorsed his hope that an agreement could be reached soon and that the United Nations should play a full role in facilitating this objective".

[02] Cyprus Government strongly protests against the reinforcement of Turkish troops

In a letter dated 12 June 2002 addressed to the UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan, the Cyprus Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Sotos Zackheos said that "this action flagrantly violates resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council and of other international organizations, such as the Non-Aligned Movement and the Commonwealth, which call, inter alia, for the withdrawal of the occupation troops from Cyprus".

The Ambassador underlined that "between 24 May and 9 June of this year, an approximate number of 5,500 troops of the Turkish Armed Forces have arrived and were deployed in the occupied area", adding that this considerable reinforcement of the occupation force raises the number of its troops to over 40,000.

Ambassador Zackheos pointed out that the "increase in Turkish troops follows other recent provocations by Turkey such as the illegal entry and conduct of research in the territorial waters and the continental shelf of Cyprus by the Turkish oceanographic vessel Piri Reis and the announcement of the subordinate local administration of the occupying power, of the extension of its so-called 'territorial waters' to 12 miles."

"It is obvious that these actions constitute a deliberate attempt on the part of Ankara to create and maintain, at the local and regional level, an atmosphere of tension, fear and intimidation," he said, adding that "this situation victimizes both communities including the Turkish Cypriot population that has to live with the over-bearing presence of the Turkish occupation troops in an environment of repression and the stifling of free expression."

Mr Zackheos also referred to a statement of the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, Mesut Yilmaz, published in the Turkish daily Hurriyet on 11 May 2001 that, "after ten years the number of Turkish troops we deploy in Cyprus will be greater than the number of Turkish Cypriots living there".

The Ambassador noted that "the international community expects the Government of Turkey to terminate its illegal occupation and behave in a completely different and certainly more responsible manner", especially during this critical period when direct talks are held between President Clerides and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, in an effort to achieve a just and viable solution of the Cyprus problem, on the basis of the Security Council resolutions.

He said that an important component of the solution would be the demilitarisation of Cyprus, as proposed by President Clerides and stressed that provocations, such as the ones witnessed recently, demonstrate a lack of political will and raise serious questions as to the desire of the Turkish side to engage in the talks with good faith.

Concluding, Mr Zackheos urged the UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan and the members of the UN Security Council "to undertake the necessary demarches toward the Government of Turkey, so that it will immediately reverse this new fait accompli and put an end to its aggressive policy, which is contrary to the spirit and letter of the United Nations Charter".

[03] Monetary Policy decisions

The key official interest rates of the Central Bank, that is the interest rates of the marginal lending facility (Lombard) and the deposit facility remain unchanged at 5.5% and 2.5% respectively.

The reference value for the annual growth rate of the bank credit in 2002 is 11%.

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

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