Cyprus News Agency: News in English (PM), 97-10-09

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greek forces to participate in "Nikiforos '97"

[02] Cyprus President arrives in Strasbourg

[03] FM says parliament should decriminalise homosexuality

[04] Cyprus Airways celebrates golden jubilee

[05] Attorney-General comments on Euro Court decision

[06] Clerides discusses CoE role with Fisher

[07] Finance Minister on business meeting

[08] Four Iranians die in car accident

1515:CYPPRESS:01

[01] Greek forces to participate in "Nikiforos '97"

Greece's National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopolulos will arrive in Cyprus on Monday to watch the last part of the five-day exercise, which will climax with a military parade.

This was announced today by the National Guard's Chief of Staff Demetrios Fasaris.

Parallel to "Nikiforos '97" the annual military exercise "Toxotis" of the Greek airforce will be taking place within the Nicosia FIR (Flight Information Region).

President Glafcos Clerides and the Greek Defence Minister are expected to take the salute of a military parade next Wednesday.

Some 9.000 National Guard reservists will take part in the manoeuvres.

Fasaris said the scenario includes National Guard's reaction, after an enemy military pre-emptive strike, with the fall of parachutists.

The governments of Cyprus and Greece agreed in November 1993 to create a joint defence pact.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37 per cent of its territory.

CNA KK/AP/GP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1520:CYPPRESS:02

[02] Cyprus President arrives in Strasbourg

Strasbourg, Oct 9 (CNA) -- Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides arrived here Thursday to attend the second Council of Europe (CoE) Summit to take place between October 10-11.

Coming from the US, where he addressed the UN General Assembly, the Cypriot President said the Americans would continue preparations to complement the efforts of the UN Secretary-General for a Cyprus settlement.

Clerides reiterated that the US and the United Nations would deal with the Cyprus problem after the February 1998 presidential elections on the island.

"At the same time, their main pre-occupation will be to avoid tension to allow for a good climate", which would help their efforts when they intervene. The UN, he added, agree with this strategy.

Asked to comment on the future of the dialogue on security issues, the President said there was a "difference" with Turkish Cypriot Rauf Denktash's position.

"Mr Denktash considers the issue of security as very restrictive while we want a discussion of the wider meaning of security," he added.

Invited to comment on the latest American efforts to promote commercial transactions between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, the Cypriot President said "it is wrong to assume that it concerns a new approach to solving the Cyprus problem."

In Strasbourg, Clerides will meet Leni Fischer, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE and the President of the Alscace - Cyprus Friendship Group.

On Friday morning he will attend the opening of the Summit and later the same day he will have talks with European Commission President Jacques Santer.

He will also meet Daniel Tarschys, the Secretary-General of the CoE.

On Saturday, the President will chair a session of the proceedings and address the meeting. He leaves Strasbourg later that day.

Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides is due in Strasbourg from Brussels later today and is scheduled to hold talks with his counterparts from Denmark, the Netherlands, Moldova, Hungary and Armenia.

The second Council of Europe summit comes at a crucial moment in the process of European unification in the wake of the European Union and NATO and the conclusion of the EU Intergovernmental Conference.

CNA MA/EC/GP/1997

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1615:CYPPRESS:03

[03] FM says parliament should decriminalise homosexuality

"It is not right on one hand to demand respect for human rights from Turkey in Cyprus and on the other not to comply with the Court's decisions ourselves," Kasoulides told a local radio station (Astra) Thursday.

He said the House is making a "serious mistake" in refusing to decriminalise homosexuality.

The Minister expressed hope the House will eventually approve the relevant legislation, vehemently opposed by the Church and other groups, who see it as eroding morality and Christian doctrines.

Commenting on the same topic, President Glafcos Clerides said the political decision to decriminalise homosexuality must be taken at some stage.

CNA MA/MM/AP/1997

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1900:CYPPRESS:04

[04] Cyprus Airways celebrates golden jubilee

The plan was recently drafted by foreign experts and aimed to help the company face the challenge of liberalisation of flights in Europe.

Kyriakides expressed hope this would not be rejected by the House of Representatives, the government or the trade unions.

Speaking at a press conference on the occasion of the national carrier's 50th anniversary, Kyriakides said the plan would not be imposed, pointing out that the company had not a dogmatic attitude.

On the contrary, the plan will serve as a working paper, as a compass, he added.

Kyriakides said the plan's approval by the parties involved is in itself part of the plan, and perhaps the most crucial one.

The company was set up on September 24, 1947, with three small Dakotas, while at present its 12 Airbuses fly to 65 destinations in 23 countries, carrying 1,5 million passengers yearly, Cyprus Airways chairman said.

President of the Republic Glafcos Clerides will attend the official ceremony for the celebration of the airline's golden jubilee, to take place in Nicosia on October 17, where an exhibition "Cyprus Airways 1947-1997" will be on display.

Cyprus Airways has offered its passengers 5.000 one-way free tickets this year, with a lottery on each flight, while passengers born on September 24, 1947, have been offered free tickets, Kyriakides said.

The company's "Frequent Flyer" programme launched five years ago with some 13.000 members will be upgraded as another offer to the airline's passengers, he added.

Kyriakides announced that the Association of European Airlines (AEA) has decided to hold their next conference in Nicosia on November 28 and 29, 1997.

CNA GG/AP/1997

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1910:CYPPRESS:05

[05] Attorney-General comments on Euro Court decision

He made the statement when invited to comment today's judgment in the case of Lefteris Andronicou and Elsie Constantinou, killed on December 24, 1993 at Chloraka village, near the western town of Paphos.

Both were killed in an exchange of fire when special police forces stormed the flat in which Lefteris held Elsie hostage, threatening to kill her.

Earlier today, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the Cypriot authorities were not in breach of its obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights in connection with the case.

The judgement said that "the respondent state could not be adjudged to be in breach of its obligations under Article 2 of the Convention."

It further dismissed the government's preliminary objections concerning exhaustion of domestic remedies and abuse of process.

Markides said "the result was that the Cyprus Republic has been exonerated by the European Court that it violated Article 2", he said.

The Attorney-General explained that the threat against the life of Elsie was immediate, therefore the use of violence by the policemen was justified.

He added that the Court cannot substitute the judgement of the people who took the decision with its judgement because they acted in seconds during a condition of crisis even though later it might have proved that their decision was mistaken.

The Attorney-General supported that he could not understand why the lawyer of the couple's relatives did not resort to Cyprus courts before going to Strasbourg.

He supported that the case "should have been tried in Cyprus." If they lost the case, only then should have they resorted before the Commission and the European Court.

The couple's lawyer, Michalakis Kyprianou, said he was astonished by the European Court's decision and added that he would resort to local courts.

CNA EC/GP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1930:CYPPRESS:06

[06] Clerides discusses CoE role with Fisher

Strasbourg, Oct 9 (CNA) -- The role which the Council of Europe (CoE) can play in a Cyprus settlement, was discussed here Thursday during a meeting between Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides and Leni Fischer, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE.

Clerides arrived here earlier today to participate in the second Council of Europe summit to take place on October 10-11.

In a brief statement to the press, President Clerides said he talked with Fisher about the latest developments in Cyprus and added that she is well informed about the problem.

Asked if the role of the CoE in efforts to solve the Cyprus problem was discussed, Clerides said "we talked about the role which it (the CoE) has played in the past and the role which it can play now".

On Friday morning President Clerides will attend the opening of the summit and later the same day he will have talks with European Commission President Jacques Santer.

He will also meet Daniel Tarschys, the CoE Secretary-General.

CNA MA/EC/GP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

2015:CYPPRESS:07

[07] Finance Minister on business meeting

Under such conditions, the Cyprus government does not object to commercial transactions before a settlement to the island's political problem.

The statements were made by Finance Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou at a press conference today on the results of a meeting on Tuesday in New York between US business leaders and prominent journalists with Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides, Christodoulou and Central Bank of Cyprus Governor Afxentis Afxentiou.

The meeting was held at the initiative of US Presidential Emissary for Cyprus, Richard Holbrooke.

Christodoulou said the briefing of US business leaders who are in a position to affect the US external policy, on the Cyprus economy would increase the American interest in a settlement to the island's division and occupation by Turkish troops since 1974.

Invited to comment on statements by Holbrooke about joint ventures between the two communities on the island, Christodoulou said he considers Holbrooke's plans to attract US investments as "natural", since he is the vice chairman of the Credit Swiss, one of the three largest banks in the world.

However, the Minister said that Holbrooke is aware that efforts for joint commercial transactions between G/C and T/C business people "are not promoted and do not involve in any way the official side (the government)."

"The government clarified that if such activities are undertaken, they foresee that they are held within the framework of the existing constitutional and legal order, with full recognition of the existing reality, the independence and sovereignty of the Cyprus Republic", he added.

If this is so, he said, "then the Cyprus government will not object such transactions before a settlement."

CNA KN/EC/GP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

2020:CYPPRESS:08

[08] Four Iranians die in car accident

Police identified them as Ismael Ashrafabadi, 39, Hamidreza Sharifi Nezad, 27, Afshin Heidarpour Hassan, 27, and female passenger Jaleh Sharifi Nezad, 30.

The driver Huber Marlis, 29, from Switzerland, and Mastaneh Ashrafabadi, 25, from Iran, were seriously injured and taken to Paphos general hospital.

Their rental car was involved in a head-on collision with a truck on the Polis-Pomos road.

The Cypriot truck driver Klitos Theodorou Kotsias, 35, from Kato Pyrgos, was slightly injured.

According to Police, the car driven by Marlis with the five Iranians seemed to have entered around noon the opposite lane of the road resulting to a fierce head-on collision.

CNA SS/AP/GP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

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