Cyprus News Agency: News in English (PM), 97-06-20

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From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>

CONTENTS

[01] Cyprus Stock Exchange

[02] Cyprus slams Turkish intransigence

[03] Government accepts Israeli denial on military exercises

[04] No UN documents or ideas, the Spokesman says

[05] UN Under Secretary-General hopeful on progress in Cyprus

1530:CYPPRESS:01

[01] Cyprus Stock Exchange

CSE All Share Index                    76.50 (+0.01)

Highest: 82.46 (2/1/97)
Lowest : 73.90 (30/1/97)

Sectural Indices

Banks                                  84.92 (-0.07)
Approved Investment Companies          65.48 (-1.33)
Insurance Companies                    60.28 (-0.81)
Industrial Companies                   80.96 (+1.26)
Tourist Industries                     63.17 (+0.93)
Commercial Companies                   50.54 (-0.45)
Other Companies                        57.43 (-0.49)

Trading Volume                         CYP 591041.422

CNA AP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1530:CYPPRESS:02

[02] Cyprus slams Turkish intransigence

Commenting on an article in the latest Canadian edition of the "Time" magazine referring to Denktash as "the devil" in the peace effort on Cyprus, Government Spokesman Manolis Christofides said this was correct and criticised the Turkish intransigence.

"Turkish intransigence has been the reason for having no progress on the Cyprus issue all these years, with Denktash being the major factor for Turkish policy formation," Christofides told his daily briefing Friday.

The article in the "Time" magazine refers to Turkish Cypriot leader as "the devil" in the peace effort and describes him as "a local warlord" in his "pitiful, unrecognised enclave", a reference to Denktash's self-styled illegal regime in the Turkish-occupied northern part of Cyprus.

The Spokesman said the Cyprus government expects that a conciliatory spirit would prevail in the forthcoming New York UN-sponsored direct talks between President Glafcos Clerides and Denktash, to the benefit of the people of Cyprus.

Turkish troops have been occupying 37 per cent of Cyprus territory since 1974, in violation of repeated UN resolutions calling for their withdrawal.

CNA MM/AP/GP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1805:CYPPRESS:03

[03] Government accepts Israeli denial on military exercises

"The government accepts the Israeli embassy's denial as a proof of Israel's friendly relations with Cyprus, which Israel does not wish to disturb in any way," Christofides told his daily press briefing Friday.

He repeated that efforts to maintain friendly relations are mutual and there is no reason at this time to endanger these relations.

Responding to a question whether common Israel-Turkey military exercises are being held today, Christofides said "if these two countries are conducting common exercises it is their own matter as long as they do not violate either international law or the sovereign rights of other states."

Regarding the visit of Turkish vessels to Israeli ports, the Government Spokesman said similar visits are held in other neighbouring countries.

Christofides explained the only difference is that Turkish warships have docked in Turkish-occupied ports in Cyprus.

Meanwhile, the Spokesman said there is nothing new regarding information given to the US about the violation of Cyprus' sovereign airspace by Turkish fighters earlier this week.

However, he added, the American government's reactions to the event have become more intense over the past few days.

"From American diplomatic reactions, we see they have become more intense in the past few days regarding anchoring of Turkish warships (in the occupied ports) and violations of Cypriot airspace," Christofides said.

CNA MM/MH/AP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1915:CYPPRESS:04

[04] No UN documents or ideas, the Spokesman says

Government Spokesman Manolis Christofides told his daily press briefing today there are no other documents apart from the two informal documents submitted by the UN Secretary-General's resident Representative Gustave Feissel during the UN-sponsored proximity talks earlier this year and the UN chief's letter, dated January 27.

"The Cyprus government and the President of the Republic, categorically confirm they have received no document or set of ideas" on Cyprus, the Spokesman said.

Invited to comment on statements made yesterday by UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, that the parties, the European Union (EU) and the UN would like to see the Cyprus problem resolved before Cyprus is admitted into the Union, Christofides said Annan's statement was "correct".

"The completion of the Cyprus accession course is something that all the factors who are dealing with the Cyprus problem are concerned with," Christofides said, adding this is a keystone of the government's policy.

However, he added that although the Cyprus government would like a solution, the European course will not be suspended if there is no solution.

The Government Spokesman said the presence of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council at the wings of the forthcoming direct talks, between President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, "is of great significance."

The stronger the representation of each country the better would be the development of the talks, the Spokesman explained.

Christofides said "there is no pessimism, on the contrary, we are optimistic that under this set the best possible results will be achieved."

UN-sponsored face-to-face talks between President Clerides and Denktash are scheduled to take place between July 9-13 in the New York vicinity, in an effort to break the stalemate on the Cyprus problem.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37 per cent of the island's territory.

CNA EC/AP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

2035:CYPPRESS:05

[05] UN Under Secretary-General hopeful on progress in Cyprus

"The Secretary-General would not have invited the parties to come and attend talks if he did not have some hope that there would be progress made, " UN Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs Sir Kieran Prendergast told the UN Press Club Thursday.

However, Sir Kieran said the UN can help in numerous ways to spur things along in Cyprus, but ultimately, progress depends on the two sides on the island.

"The UN can provide an enabling environment. We can try and help create conditions in which progress is more easily made. We can come up with ingenious formulations and approaches, but ultimately, to any dispute, they have to make peace with one another," he said.

The UN official added that the appointment of Diego Cordovez as the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Cyprus boosts the chances for progress.

"Diego is a very experienced and ingenious negotiator who had successes in other spheres and what I would say is that if there is progress to be made, then Diego will make it. I am confident of that," Sir Kieran said.

The UN Under Secretary-General also referred to the issue of the Greek Cypriot side's 1619 persons listed as missing and unaccounted for since the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

He said that although the issue is important, it is not this central to whether progress will be made on the Cyprus issue during next month's direct negotiations, near New York.

"The position of the Secretary-General is that he is prepared to nominate a third person if there is real reason to believe that the parties want to make progress on it and that it is up to them to demonstrate by accepting certain conditions that he has laid down, that they wish to make progress" the UN official said.

Asked what will happen in the future if current efforts to solve the Cyprus problem fail, Sir Kieran said that people instead should be asking what will happen if things do work out and the problem is solved.

"First of all, it will be much easier for a united Cyprus to join the EU. Secondly, the north of Cyprus, which is one of the poorer if not the poorest areas, will receive substantial economic assistance from the EU. Thirdly, in terms of Turkey's aim, prospects or aspirations to join the EU, you will be able to see that there is a Turkish Cypriot community inside the EU."

"All of these will be a big step forward and both politically in terms of stability and also economically. I think people should look that much more that just looking what's going to happen if we fail. That's a sort of a death wish syndrome," the UN official said.

CNA MH/AP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

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