Cyprus News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-04-23

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

CONTENTS

[01] Demonstration against British troops

[02] No proposal for a four-party meeting, says Clerides

[03] Cyprus mourns late Greek President

[04] Door still open for T/C participation, says Vassiliou

[05] EU-Cyprus Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting continues

[06] Kranidiotis meets Miller

1500:CYPPRESS:01

[01] Demonstration against British troops

British Bases spokesman, Mervyn Jones, told CNA that the exercises resumed at 9.30 local time and they will continue until late in the afternoon. He said 80 infantrymen were taking part.

Asked whether environmentalists were in the training area in protest against the military exercises, Jones said according to his information nobody was found to be in the firing range area.

Referring to negotiations with the Cyprus government regarding an alternative place for the exercises, Jones replied that "discussions are continuing between the Republic of Cyprus and the Authority of the British Bases and we await developments with interest".

He said "what we need is enough space to fire live weapon safely. The primary issue in the case of the alternative place proposed in Asinou was that there was not enough space put aside to contact the training we required, safely and without risk", he noted.

Meanwhile, local people and environmentalists were due to take part in a demonstration this evening, when the British soldiers will be returning to their camps.

"We would like to show our strong opposition to the British military manoeuvres in Akamas," George Perdikis, spokesman for the Ecological Movement told CNA.

He said his Movement would try to brief members of the EU-Cyprus Parliamentary Committee meeting today and tomorrow in Nicosia about the British military exercises in Akamas.

Perdikis said that already an effort has started to make the Federation of the Green Parties of Europe more active on the Akamas issue.

He said the British exercises in Akamas were against the 1976 UN Convention, forbidding military exercises which destroy the environment and that has been ratified by both the Cyprus Republic and Britain.

The international environmental community, the Green Party in the European Parliament, Greenpeace, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the World Wide Fund (WWF) and other international organisations, have expressed their concern and were willing to help protect the Akamas peninsula, a unique area for fauna and flora.

CNA DP/GP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1620:CYPPRESS:02

[02] No proposal for a four-party meeting, says Clerides

Asked to comment on Turkish reports that Miller proposed to both Nicosia and Ankara a four-party meeting, President Clerides, said "no such thing was put forward to our side."

According to the reports, the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities along with Greece and Turkey would be invited to a attend meeting in an effort to reach a solution to the protracted Cyprus problem.

Meanwhile, Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides confirmed today that US Presidential Emissary for Cyprus, Richard Holbrooke, will arrive here next Friday, May 1.

He added, however, that the government has not been informed of a possible visit to Cyprus by US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright.

CNA KN/MCH/AP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1630:CYPPRESS:03

[03] Cyprus mourns late Greek President

In a written statement President, Glafcos Clerides, described Karamanlis as one of Greece's great political figures in the country's modern history.

He also stressed his decisive role in formulating a strategy over Cyprus since the beginning of the EOKA armed struggle for freedom from British colonial rule in 1955.

House of Representatives President and Democratic Party (DIKO) leader, Spyros Kyprianou, praised Karamanlis' lifetime work and said he has left Greece and Cyprus a political legacy.

Primate of the Greek Orhtodox Church of Cyprus, Archbishop Chrysostomos, praised the late Greek politician's efforts to serve Hellenism.

Ruling right-wing Democratic Rally (DISY) leader Nicos Anastasiades expressed sorrow for Karamanlis death and described the late politician as one of Greece's "historic leaders" who had significantly contributed towards his country's development.

Andreas Christou, Parliamentary Spokesman of left-wing AKEL party, said Karamanlis left his mark in the histories of both Cyprus and Greece

Socialist EDEK party leader Vassos Lyssarides described Karamanlis as an "important figure" in Greek political history and made special reference to his contribution towards Greece's accession to the European Union.

United Democrats Deputy President, Michalis Papapetrou, noted that Karamanlis left his mark with the signing of the 1959-1960 Zurich and London Treaties of Guarantees and Establishment, granting Cyprus its independence from British colonial rule.

Leader of New Horizons movement, Nicos Koutsou, pointed out that for over half a century Karamanlis' name was associated with Greece's history and praised his decision-making qualities.

CNA AP/MCH/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

2040:CYPPRESS:04

[04] Door still open for T/C participation, says Vassiliou

Vassiliou took part in a meeting here Thursday between the European Commission and the chief negotiators of the six applicant countries for EU membership.

Cyprus along with Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Estonia began accession talks with the EU on March 31.

The meeting concluded that the procedure of the examination of the acquis communautaire, between the European Commission and the six applicant countries, will not be completed by the end of this year, as scheduled, but will at least be continued into the first half of 1999.

Nikolaus Van Der Pas, responsible for these countries' accession talks, said substantial negotiations will begin in the second half of 1999, when Finland will take over the six-month rotating EU presidency.

Vassiliou's assurance that the door is still open for Turkish Cypriots to participate in the Republic's negotiating team was welcomed with satisfaction by the European Commission and the current British EU presidency.

The next meeting between the Commission and the chief negotiators of the applicant countries will be held on April 27, where they will be briefed on the provisions of the acquis communautaire in the fields of research and technology.

A second meeting between Cyprus and the EU will take place on May 5 and will focus on problems in the fields of telecommunications and data processing.

CNA NM/AP/MCH/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

2055:CYPPRESS:05

[05] EU-Cyprus Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting continues

Speaking at the 13th Meeting of the Committee, left-wing AKEL MP Andreas Christou said the invitation for Turkish Cypriot participation remains open and expressed hope that the Turkish Cypriot leadership would change its negative attitude.

"President Glafcos Clerides' proposal has been described by EU officials as just and generous," Christou added.

Pointing out that a solution to the protracted Cyprus problem remains the primary objective, Christou stressed it should not be a precondition for Cyprus' accession to the EU.

Speaking on the issue of enclaved and persons missing since the 1974 Turkish invasion of the island, right-wing Democratic Rally deputy Andreas Mouskos pointed to the new restrictive measures imposed by Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, concerning travelling to and from the Turkish- occupied areas.

Since last February Denktash imposed so-called entry and exit fees to the Turkish-occupied areas in an effort to inhibit contacts between Greek and Turkish Cypriots even further.

These measures in connection with Denktash's demand for recognition of his illegal entity, unilaterally declared in November 1983, if he is to return to the negotiating table, prove the lack of good will on his part, Mouskos added.

German Euro-MP, Mechtild Rothe said the situation of Greek Cypriots and Maronites enclaved in the Turkish-occupied north "has deteriorated", while her Belgian colleague, Philippe Monfils, Co-Chairman of the Committee described the situation as "shameful".

"Any agreement that forgets the enclaved cannot be acceptable," he added, stressing the need "to keep the memory of these people alive."

Socialist EDEK deputy Demetris Eliades raised the issue of the dangers from the nuclear power plant Turkey intends to construct on its southern coast, some 185 kilometres from Cyprus.

Eliades said the danger of a nuclear accident is high and pointed out that the costs would be worse than those of the Chernobyl disaster, on April 26 1986.

CNA MCH/AP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

2125:CYPPRESS:06

[06] Kranidiotis meets Miller

Kranidiotis expressed the Greek government's support to a US initiative for a Cyprus settlement, pointing out that it could prove fruitful as the US can exercise influence towards Turkey.

Describing the meeting as "very good and productive", Miller said ideas were exchanged, which however he refused to reveal.

Miller said "the US believes that it is the time to make a great effort to bring a settlement to Cyprus," noting that "there is indication that both leaders in Cyprus want to solve the problem."

Asked to comment on reports of a four-party meeting for a Cyprus settlement, to be attended by the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, Greece and Turkey, Miller said what is important is the resumption of talks between President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.

"The substance of the talks is between the leaders Clerides and Denktash, are others involved it is a process question," he said.

Both Miller and Kranidiotis expressed their support for a bizonal, bicommunal federation in Cyprus and a solution to the long-standing Cyprus problem under the umbrella of the UN.

CNA KI/MCH/AP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

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