Cyprus News Agency: News in English (AM), 98-04-15

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

CONTENTS

[01] National Council meets

[02] US, EU discuss Cyprus and EU-Turkey relations

[03] UN and others try hard to break impasse, says Feissel

[04] Greek Cypriot teacher slams Turkey on human rights violations

0950:CYPPRESS:01

[01] National Council meets

It is also expected to discuss a proposal by Socialist EDEK party leader Vassos Lyssarides for the establishment of a "Council of National Policy" (CNP) to replace the National Council.

Earlier this week Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides had talks in Athens with the leadership of the Greek Foreign Ministry on the Cyprus problem, the content of which was "confidential", he said.

Among the issues to be discussed are the forthcoming visits here of US presidential emissary Richard Holbrooke and State Department special Cyprus coordinator Thomas Miller.

Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash has said he will not return to the negotiating table unless his breakaway state is recognised thus demanding a change in the interlocutors' status.

The American envoys will try to achieve resumption of direct peace talks between the leaders of the two communities.

CNA AP/GP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1030:CYPPRESS:02

[02] US, EU discuss Cyprus and EU-Turkey relations

Noting that Cyprus-EU negotiations started on March 31, Van den Broek said after the meeting "we hope very much at the same time that the Turkish Cypriots will take the opportunity of joining these negotiations, for which, as you know, an offer is on the table."

He said the EU and the US should in the meantime "work together also in the direction of strengthening the relationship with Turkey through our customs union, for which the European Commission has made proposals."

The EU Commissioner said he had asked US support to help improve relations between the EU and Turkey.

"I've also asked support from the American side to make clear to our partners in Turkey what the offers exactly are, that came out from Luxembourg, and that they are really promising, if one is prepared to look at them in a positive way," he said.

Van den Broek noted that the EU and the US concur very much in their approach on this issue.

"We have stressed very much with our American friends that in our view the Luxembourg conclusions give pretty much room for Turkey to capitalise upon."

The EU Commissioner expressed hope that "the American side is prepared to encourage Turkey to go in that direction."

CNA DA/AP/GP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1200:CYPPRESS:03

[03] UN and others try hard to break impasse, says Feissel

Feissel was speaking to the press after a meeting today with President Glafcos Clerides, during which he said they had a "routine discussion" on future steps on Cyprus.

"We are in a situation where things have been stuck for quite a while and we all recognise that it is vital that we move things forward and we make progress towards a settlement," Feissel said.

He said "the Secretary-General and others, like the US, have been working very hard to find a way out of this impasse and we are hoping that these efforts will bear fruit in the near future,"

The UN official refrained from elaborating on possible options aiming to break this impasse.

"I am sure that you understand that these things have to be discussed in a quiet way, if they are to bear some fruit, he noted.

To a question whether he expects resumption of the negotiations soon, he said that is what everybody is working on and expressed hope to see some results soon.

The UN envoy told reporters he could not announce possible ideas and suggestions for breaking the current deadlock.

"They have to be discussed very quitely and very seriously with the parties and we hope that we can work something out that everybody can buy," he said.

Feissel was asked to comment on his meeting yesterday with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, where he reportedly had protested the illegal regime's measures restricting the crossing to and from the Turkish-occupied areas.

"Of course we talked about it," he acknowledged and noted "it is important that the people from the two communities meet, if that is their wish and they shall be able to visit villages."

He also acknowledged that the relations between the European Union and Turkey "obviously have an effect" on the Cyprus issue, noting they affect the climate and how the different parties see things.

The UN envoy confirmed that both sides have accepted Swiss diplomat Jean Pierre Ritter as the UN Representative in the UN Investigatory Committee on the Missing Persons, noting "he should be coming very soon."

With regard to an agreement reached on July 31, 1997 between President Clerides and Denktash, calling on the two sides to meet and exchange information on missing persons, he said Presidential Commissioner on Humanitarian Affairs Takis Christopoulos and Turkish Cypriot representative Rustem Tatar will meet soon in order to take this matter further.

The Investigatory Committee was set up in 1981, and consists of a Greek Cypriot representative, a Turkish Cypriot representative and a third member appointed by the UN Secretary-General.

CNA KN/AP/GP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1400:CYPPRESS:04

[04] Greek Cypriot teacher slams Turkey on human rights violations

Eleni Foka addressed yesterday the 54th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, in Geneva, on behalf of the International Federation for the Protection of the Rights of Ethnic, Religious, Linguistic and other Minorities.

She denounced Turkey about the violations of human rights of the enclaved Greek Cypriots in the Turkish-occupied area of Cyprus, and called on the UN to help stop this situation.

"Of the 20,000 people of the Karpass in 1974, there are now 450," Foka told the Committee.

She referred to the policy of ethnic cleansing practised by the occupation regime and the crimes committed there mainly by Turkish settlers.

"In the first year following the Turkish invasion all teachers of the Karpass, including myself, were obliged to sign a so-called application to leave and were taken to the free areas of Cyprus. I was the only one left," Foka said.

She said in 1976, two years after the invasion, she had 74 pupils of six different grades, the number of which was eventually reduced to four, in 1997, while the population of her Agia Triada village declined to 120, mainly old people, from over 1,500 before the invasion.

She explained it is forbidden to establish secondary schools in the occupied areas, thus forcing pupils completing primary education to leave and attend high school in the free areas, while forbidding them to return home after they graduate.

"Every morning we would find windows broken, tiles removed from the roof and excrement on the floors of the classrooms. We had to raise the Turkish flag in the school yard and pictures of Attaturk in the classes," she told the Committee.

"Books arrived with great delay, pages and whole chapters were missing, my school furniture was taken to equip the schools of Anatolian Turks. I had a room with four walls and a blackboard. When it rained, the class became a pool," she said.

She added that the threats against her and the children were with no end, that even young children were often taken to the police station and beaten and that they could not play at home or in the streets for fear of attack or rape.

Foka referred to the fear and oppression the rest of the villagers lived in, forbidden to cultivate their fields or go outside the village, the everyday stealing of their possessions, the rapes, murders and abuses, as well as to the desecration of churches and the destruction of cultural heritage.

She then explained how last year the occupation regime had ousted her from her village, when she came to the free areas for medical treatment, but never permitted to return after recovery.

"Three times I tried to go back and three times I was pushed and beaten, so today I am in Nicosia away from my village, my school and my pupils," the Greek Cypriot teacher said.

"I appeal to you to help us. Please take note that every human right has been violated. You represent the United Nations, the hope of the world, " Foka pointed out.

CNA AP/GP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

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