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Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 97-01-15Cyprus 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, 15/01/97CONTENTS
[01] No agreement on UN package, says President CleridesCyprus President Glafcos Clerides has said that no agreement has been reached on the immediate implementation of a UN package of measures aimed at reducing tension on the island apart from the earlier agreement to continue the military dialogue (between the National Guard and the Turkish occupation troops) on the basis of UN resolutions.Asked to assess the situation following his talks on 13.1. 97 with US official Carey Cavanaugh, the President said ''the situation has not changed at all'' and underlined that press reports that the government had consented to a delay in the deployment of the missiles were ''totally unfounded.'' Russia, he explained, had informed the government it could not deliver the missiles before 16 months had elapsed, despite government wishes to the contrary. Clerides said he had expressed the view that peace negotiations can only be conducted until September because the ensuing period would be taken up by the presidential electoral campaign. "During our discussions with Mr Cavanaugh, I expressed the view that we cannot proceed with a reduction of military tension alone without seeing any progress on the substance of the Cyprus problem," President Clerides told the press. Referring to his trip to Athens later this week, he said no agenda has been fixed for the talks, but that a US-backed proposal for banning overflights of Greek and Turkish military aircraft over the island would be examined in the light of a new US suggestion that it not be continuous. [02] We have "breathing space" to solve the Cyprus problem amicably, says US State Department SpokesmanThe 16 months until the Russian missile system arrives on the island provides the Turks, the Turkish Cypriots, the Greeks, and the Cypriotgovernment "breathing space to resolve that problem amicably and co- operatively", the US State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns said yesterday. Mr Burns was asked to comment on the different interpretation that the Cypriot sides gave to Carey Cavanaugh's visit to Cyprus than he did, namely that there is no agreement and no breakthrough on the package of measures to reduce tension and that the crisis is not necessarily over. He disagreed that what the US is trying to sell as a major assurance from President Clerides is, in fact, an inevitable waiting period for the assembly and transportation of the missiles, insisting that this "is a significant step forward by the Cypriot government". He said it was also a "positive step forward" that Cavanaugh had received assurances of full support for the measures to be taken along the cease- fire lines and that representatives of the United Nations forces in Cyprus will be discussing these particular issues with the Cyprus government and the Turkish Cypriot leadership at the end of this week. He urged all parties concerned "to step back, exercise restraint in what they say and what they do and try to resolve these problems amicably". "Now that President Clerides has given us some space - all of us to move forward - let's see restraint on all sides and let's see progress on Cyprus", he said. [03] Meeting on security issues held in AthensRegional security issues and issues relating to the joint defence pact between Greece and Cyprus were discussed at a meeting in Athens yesterday between the Ministers of Defence of the two countries, Mr Akis Tsohatzopoulos and Mr Costas Eliades.Mr Tsohatzopoulos described the joint defence pact as "the answer of both countries to external threats" and will enable them to become powers for promoting peace, security and co-operation in the region. In a statement to the press after the meeting, the chairman of the Cyprus House of Representatives' Defence Committee, Mr Takis Hadjidemetriou, accompanying the Minister, stressed that their objective is to create defence capabilities which would act as a deterrent to the existing Turkish arms threat and at the same time secure peaceful conditions in which a settlement to the Cyprus problem can be found. [04] Britain: Efforts for Cyprus settlement should not be deterredThe excessive level of military forces and armaments in Cyprus should not be a deterrent to efforts to promote a settlement in Cyprus, Britain's Foreign Minister for Overseas Development, Baroness Chalker, said in the House of Lords on 13.1.97."Indeed it underlines for all of us why those efforts are so important. Both sides must calm the situation". She added that Britain will continue to urge the Turkish government "to resist the impulse to make the bellicose statements that they have made in the past and to respond to all of the recent developments with restraint. That must be the only way to get a dialogue going". She said that a significant reduction in Turkish troops in northern Cyprus would improve the climate for negotiations adding that the most sensible decision would be for both sides to take measures which reduced rather than increased tension. The Baroness said that Britain regards the situation with the utmost seriousness and will be doing all they can to ensure that recent events are not allowed to escalate further. Referring to the prospect for Cyprus' accession to the European Union, Baroness Chalker said this was a new opportunity to make progress towards a settlement but stressed that a political settlement should not be made a precondition for accession because that would give one party an effective veto over the other. "We want to see the whole island join on the basis of a bizonal, bicommunal federation because accession will benefit both communities", she added. [05] Pope refers to CyprusPope John Paul II, speaking to the diplomatic corps in the Holy See on the occasion of the New Year, also referred to Cyprus saying that the island which is still divided in two, awaits a political solution which should be found within a European framework and which will broaden the island's horizons.[06] New Unficyp commanderThe United Nations peace-keeping forces in Cyprus (Unficyp) will have a new commander as from 28 February.Colonel Evergisto Arturo de Vergara of Argentina, who will be promoted to the rank of major-general, will replace Brigadier-General Ahti Toimi Paavali Vartiainen of Finland. 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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