Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 02-09-05

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

Thursday, 5 September 2002

CONTENTS

• [01] President Clerides departs for Paris
• [02] EU Chief Negotiator meets EU officials in Brussels
• [03] British Foreign Office Minister condemns imprisonment of T/C journalists
• [04] Cyprus signs Children's Rights Convention

[01] President Clerides departs for Paris

Mr Clerides was accompanied by the Undersecretary to the President, Mr Pantelis Kouros, and will be joined today by the Attorney General, Mr Alecos Markides and the Government Spokesman, Mr Michalis Papapetrou.

Speaking to the press at Larnaca airport, prior to his departure for the French capital, President Clerides stated the following:

"I am leaving for Paris, where I will have a meeting with the UN Secretary- General. Mr Annan will have three meetings. He will first have private meetings with me and Mr Denktash, and then a joint meeting with both of us, after which he will host a working lunch.

From what we have been told, the UN Secretary-General wants to listen to the views of both sides, in order to identify the difficulties regarding the course of the direct talks and then make his own assessments. The UN Security Council will convene on Monday to be briefed on developments in the talks."

Answering to press questions, President Clerides ruled out the possibility that Mr Annan would submit any documents during the Paris meeting.

The President also gave his assessment on the possibility of Turkey securing a date for the start of accession negotiations at the EU Copenhagen Summit, by saying that it is possible, albeit under certain preconditions including the Cyprus problem.

Commenting on Mr Weston's statements in Athens about "new alternatives and options" if the Paris meeting failed, the President said that the US official did not refer to such terms during their morning meeting in Nicosia yesterday, adding that "Mr Weston stressed the need for the direct talks to continue but did not make any suggestion on how to bridge the differences."

Elaborating more on the issue, the President pointed out that "no plan has been put forward regarding an alternative solution on the core issues of the Cyprus problem, such as the issue of sovereignty and whether a new state will be created."

President Clerides was also asked about Mr Weston's perception of the situation in Ankara, following the latter's visit there. He replied that it was a joint perception that the situation in Turkey was very fluid since no single political party could secure an absolute majority in the November elections.

Invited to comment on Mr Denktash's position that if the issue of citizenship were settled, that would lead to an agreement on sovereignty, the President noted, "if we agree on the issue of sovereignty then the issue of citizenship will be settled automatically. The two issues are interlinked."

Finally, the Cypriot President said that he would convene the National Council for a briefing immediately after his return from Paris.

[02] EU Chief Negotiator meets EU officials in Brussels

In particular, Mr Vassiliou met yesterday with the Head of the Cyprus negotiating team, Mr Leopold Maurer, the Enlargement Commissioner, Mr Gunter Verheugen, and the Director General of the Enlargement D-G, Mr Eneko Landaburu.

The meeting with Mr Landaburu entailed the review of the European Commission's impending annual progress report on Cyprus. It must be mentioned that the Commission's report is of great significance, given that it is the last progress report prior to enlargement and that it will identify the candidate countries which will be ready for accession by the end of this year.

With regard to Cyprus, it is expected that the report would take into consideration the successful course of the negotiations, which began in 1998, as well as the hard work done by the Government and the House of Representatives to accelerate the process of adopting the acquis communautaire.

Furthermore, Mr Vassiliou has briefed the European Commission that the Cypriot Parliament is to convene ad hoc on 13 September in order to complete the harmonisation process.

Based on all the above, it is estimated that the progress report would be positive for Cyprus.

[03] British Foreign Office Minister condemns imprisonment of T/C journalists

The British official said that he condemns all attacks on press freedom and called upon the Turkish Cypriot leadership to ensure that the two men's, and all Turkish Cypriots', right to freedom of expression is fully respected.

"The British Government has made representations about their case", Mr MacShane added, noting that he would continue to follow this case closely.

A pseudocourt in occupied Cyprus sentenced, on 7 August 2002, the editor-in- chief of T/C daily "Afrika", Sener Levent, and the journalist at the same newspaper, Memduh Ener, to six months imprisonment on the "charge of defamation against Denktash" in a 29 July 1999 article written by Ener. The newspaper was then called "Avrupa".

[04] Cyprus signs Children's Rights Convention

The Convention aims to promote the rights of children, by providing them with the right to appeal as well as a number of procedural measures to enable them to exercise their rights before judicial authorities.

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

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