Cyprus News Agency: News in English (AM), 98-04-10

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

CONTENTS

[01] US continues efforts to resume Cyprus peace talks

1245:CYPPRESS:01

[01] US continues efforts to resume Cyprus peace talks

Speaking after a 30-minute meeting with President Glafcos Clerides, Brill reiterated that the US does not recognise the illegal regime in the Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus.

"It's rather clear that we are working hard to move the Cyprus issue back to a direct negotiation," the American ambassador said.

He pointed out that US State Department Special Cyprus Coordinator Tom Miller will be back in Cyprus later this month and Presidential Emissary, Richard Holbrooke, will return in May.

Both men were here beginning of April for contacts with the leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, in a bid to get peace talks going.

"Meanwhile we're having a variety of other contacts to keep the process that ambassador Holbrooke is engaged in moving forward," Brill said, but refrained from revealing his contacts.

He added that "there are a lot of things going on that are being done to follow up on some of his talks here. We're trying to create a process or a way of moving back to negotiations."

After December's European Union reconfirmation that accession talks with Cyprus would open this March, Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash announced he will not participate in negotiations unless his illegal regime is recognised.

So far talks between the two sides have been carried out by the leaders of the two communities. Denktash now wants to participate as leader of his illegal entity, unilaterally declared in the Turkish-occupied areas in 1983.

Asked about the basis of the talks, the US ambassador said "we have made it very clear that we don't recognise the so-called state."

The regime in the areas of Cyprus occupied by Turkey since it invaded the island in 1974 is recognised only by Ankara. UN resolutions call on all states not to recognise or facilitate it.

"We're working towards the goal of a bicommunal, bizonal federation and the direct talks that are necessary to let that happen," Brill said.

The US ambassador stressed the importance of getting the two leaders together into a negotiating process "that will work and produce a result", adding "that is in everybody's interest".

Asked if a Dayton type process, that helped solve the Bosnian crisis, could be used in Cyprus, Brill replied that "Dayton was direct talks."

"What we are talking about here is direct talks and actually that is not inconsistent with what was happening in the past," he added.

However, he pointed out that Dayton "has come to mean a lot of things to a lot of different people, so it's hard to say what Dayton is. We're not saying Dayton type talks, we're saying direct talks between the parties," Brill added.

CNA MA/GP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

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