Cyprus News Agency: News in English (AM), 97-11-15

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

CONTENTS

[01] White House satisfied with Brussels Business Conference

[02] UN top envoy arrives Tuesday

[03] Checkpoint protest economic blow to occupation regime

[04] Groups protests against British military exercises

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[01] White House satisfied with Brussels Business Conference

This was stated by White House Spokesman, Mike McCyrry, who also said it would be "an element of the eventual resolution of a conflict that we have devoted enormous diplomatic effort on, in the course of the past year".

"The conference was an opportunity for US Presidential Emissary for Cyprus, Richard Holbrooke to bring together people interested in the economic future of Cyprus", McCurry said.

Commenting on the departure of Nicholas Burns for Greece, where he has been appointed US Ambassador, McCurry:

"We are very delighted that someone who is so distinguished and so knowledgeable about the full scope of US foreign policy will be in a position to advance our objectives as we represent our objectives to the government of Greece".

He also pointed out that Burns "is someone who has proven his reliability and effectiveness over time and he is obviously considered and regarded very highly by US President, Bill Clinton".

CNA DA/RG/MCH/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1045:CYPPRESS:02

[02] UN top envoy arrives Tuesday

United Nations, Nov 15 (CNA) -- UN Secretary-General's Special Advisor on Cyprus, Diego Cordovez, arrives in Cyprus on Tuesday for a three-day visit, during which he will have meetings with President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash.

Cordovez will then travel to Athens to meet over the weekend with Prime Minister, Costas Simitis, and Foreign Minister, Theodoros Pangalos, before moving on to Ankara on Monday, where he will confer with Prime Minister, Mesut Yilmaz.

On Wednesday, November 26, Cordovez will be in Brussels, to meet with European Union Commissioner for External Relations, Hans Van den Broek. From there, he sojourns to Paris, where he will meet with various special representatives for Cyprus, appointed by a number of countries.

According to UN sources, Cordovez will have lunch with President Clerides on Wednesday and dinner with Denktash on Thursday.

Cordovez will meet the two leaders separately and no negotiating sessions as such are contemplated.

The purpose of his visit to Cyprus, according to the same sources, is "to consider the possible nature and timing of future steps".

Diplomats close to the Cyprus issue, however, saw Cordovez's trip in an "additional light".

On top of the usual elements that comprise the Cyprus problem, "there are now two new clocks ticking", said one Western diplomat, adding that "one is the delivery in June of the S300 missiles, the other is the start of Cyprus' EU accession talks two months earlier".

"Both are vexing", he said, "not only to Turkey, but to the EU leadership as well".

Cordovez's mission, he said, "probably has more to do with neutralising those two factors, so that if negotiations on the substance of the Cyprus problem are to begin after the elections, they not be encumbered by these other considerations".

Presidential elections will be held in February 1998. Current President Glafcos Clerides and five other politicians have so far announced their candidature.

Cordovez's trip to the area follows that of US President's emissary on Cyprus Richard Holbrooke, who held a joint meeting with Clerides and Denktash in Nicosia and travelled to Ankara, Bonn and Brussels.

Repeated UN, US and British efforts to find a solution to the protracted Cyprus problem in the past 23 years have failed because of the Turkish intransigent policy.

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

CNA JD/RG/GP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

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[03] Checkpoint protest economic blow to occupation regime

The President of the anti-occupation movement (PAK) told CNA today that the protest has had grave economic consequences on the occupation regime, unilaterally established in 1983 in the areas Turkey occupies since its 1974 invasion of Cyprus.

This weekend marks one year since relatives of missing persons and other Greek Cypriots began the sit-in at the Ledra Palace checkpoint, the only place through which one can cross to the occupied areas, in a bid to inform tourists about Turkish atrocities in Cyprus.

It began in response to the killing of three Greek Cypriots last year by Turkish troops and extremists.

A concert, as well as memorial services for persons murdered and a prayer for the Greek Cypriots missing since the invasion, will be held this weekend.

Last year, on August 11, Tasos Isaak, 24, was beaten to death during a peaceful demonstration against the occupation. Also, Solomos Solomou, 26, was shot in cold blood three days later, during a demonstration held after Isaak's funeral in the eastern coast of the island.

A third Greek Cypriot, Petros Kakoulis, was shot a few weeks later while gathering snails.

CNA MK/MA/RG/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1300:CYPPRESS:04

[04] Groups protests against British military exercises

In a letter addressed to British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, the Committee refers to the new six-day-long military exercise scheduled to begin tomorrow in Akamas.

The area, the letter points out, is considered "ecologically sensitive and prone to destruction, should a fire be caused by the army", as the case had been in the past.

"We therefore protests and request that the military exercises be terminated", the letter concludes.

The Ecological Movement, in a letter to British MP and Defence Secretary, John Reid, stresses that the Akamas peninsula, "recommended by the World Bank to become a National Park", is in danger.

They point out that "1,340 trees were burned so far in this area, because of British military exercises, despite your (Reid's) assurances that the army tries to minimize the environmental impact".

They also stress that "the mere fact that there are fires caused by live ammunition raises concern for a total destruction of Akamas".

Meanwhile in a press release, the Movement appeals to the international community to protest against the continuation of the exercises in Akamas, which is "internationally accepted as one unique area in the Eastern Mediterranean for its ecological diversity and breeding ground for rare turtles".

They also point to a Cyprus Parliament Resolution, dated November 13, which strongly protests against the destruction of the environmentally sensitive Akamas area, and stress that:

"The British government goes ahead with these military exercises ignoring the Cyprus Parliament resolution and being untouched by the wishes of the Cypriots".

CNA RG/MCH/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

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