Cyprus News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-07-19

Cyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] Cyprus Stock Exchange

[02] Protest rally - 25 years of Turkish invasion

[03] British Bases - Illegal immigrants

[04] President Clerides - Message - Turkish invasion

[05] Occupied areas - Warships - Ecevit

[06] House of Representatives - July 20 ..LAYOUT 5

[07] Kasoulides - European Conference

1540:CYPPRESS:01

[01] Cyprus Stock Exchange

      CSE General Index                         202.86 ( 7.45)

      Traded Value            CYP 22,731,162

      Sectural Indices

      Banks                   CYP 5,549,582     260.52 ( 7.90)
      Approved Investment
      Companies               CYP   495,329      95.35 ( 5.97)
      Insurance Companies     CYP   468,099      92.82 ( 0.96)
      Manufacturing Companies CYP 1,992,630     103.26 ( 5.11)
      Tourism Companies       CYP 2,315,042     182.80 ( 6.06)
      Trading Companies       CYP 2,458,445     116.12 ( 9.18)
      Other Companies         CYP 2,399,184     179,83 ( 9.21)

CNA MM/1999

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1540:CYPPRESS:02

[02] Protest rally - 25 years of Turkish invasion

The National Federation of Cypriots in Great Britain organised a protest rally to condemn 25 years of Turkish occupation of part of Cyprus and demanded an end to the unacceptable division of the island.

Demonstrators marched in central London and gathered in Trafalgar Square to express their strong sense of frustration and injustice for the continuing occupation in Cyprus.

"Justice for Cyprus" and "Turkish troops out of Cyprus", "Respect human rights in Cyprus" were some of the slogans heard from the protesting crowd.

Addressing the rally, British deputies pledged their support to the Cyprus cause and called on their government to be more actively engaged in the peace effort to push for a settlement.

Some even called for a halt to any backing of Turkey until such time when Ankara sits at the negotiating table with a view to find a solution, reuniting the island and restoring human rights in the areas under Turkish occupation.

Haris Sofoclides, Federation president, called on London to intensify its efforts to shift Ankara from its intransigent positions on Cyprus and help find a solution.

In a letter to British premier, Tony Blair, Sofoclides called on Britain to lead the peace process and reminded him of Britain's "special responsibility" for Cyprus, which became an independent republic after a four year anti-colonial struggle.

Britain has retained two military bases on the island. Sofoclides also noted that Britain should "take the lead and seek US support for a just solution."

"Turkey and the US have a close relationship which many see as a barrier to the Americans being fully committed to bringing Turkey to the realisation that their occupation cannot be allowed to be a permanent solution," Sofoclides said.

He added that Cyprus and Turkey can live together in peace and help bring stability to south-eastern Europe.

CNA KT/MM/EC/1999

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1715:CYPPRESS:03

[03] British Bases - Illegal immigrants

Speaking to CNA, a Bases spokesman said ten adults and their nine dependents have been granted refugee status and "will be moving to temporary accommodation in Dhekelia base".

These are two Palestinians, one Algerian, one Iraqi Kurd, four Iraqis and nine Iraqi Yezidi.

The spokesman said the refugee status was granted "by the Administrator here (Bases), based on UNHCR advice. The British Home Office vetted all the applications for refugee status."

Asked where would these people go once released, the spokesman said the Bases are working "very closely with the Republic in finding a location for them to go to".

He said two of them and their families have family in a third country and expressed the hope the rest would settle permanently in a third country too, declining however, to say whether some of them could stay on the island.

The rest 47 illegal immigrants will remain in detention and have 15 days to appeal. Their appeals will be supervised by UNHCR and if the decision remains unchanged, deportation action will be taken.

The 47, to whom refugee status has not been granted, are four Egyptians, four Ethiopians, six Syrian Kurds, three Iraqis, thirty Iraqi Kurds, one Turkish Kurd and one South Sudanese.

CNA MCH/MM/1999

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1940:CYPPRESS:04

[04] President Clerides - Message - Turkish invasion

In a message on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the coup and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the President noted that the Greek Cypriot side shall not accept any deviation from the parametres of the relevant UN resolutions.

President Clerides emphasised that until a solution is found, the government will pursue its policy of strengthening the island's armaments.

In his message, the President said Cyprus and both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots still suffer from the "terrible consequences of the criminal coup," engineered by the Greek junta and the "illegal and brutal Turkish invasion of the island".

Clerides said since the invasion, all governments of Cyprus have "shown good will and have even made painful concessions" in UN efforts to find a settlement.

Unfortunately, he added, "the Turkish leadership was always intransigent" and its policy was always to secure recognition of the illegal regime and afterwards, if it should desire, "to seek a solution based on confederation."

Clerides referred to the efforts of the Secretary-General to invite the two sides in the coming months to take part in negotiations under the UN auspices "in the most ambitious initiative ever undertaken, to find a comprehensive solution.

This initiative enjoys the active support of the Security Council, the European Union and the Group of Eight, he said.

However, President Clerides said the culmination of the Turkish reactions to the initiative was the Turkish Grand National Assembly session on Cyprus last week and its declaration which claims that the "Cyprus problem cannot be solved unless the reality of the existence of two separate states in Cyprus is accepted."

The President said the international community "is working methodically to persuade" Turkey and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash to participate in talks without any preconditions, not to insist on the recognition of the illegal regime and for talks to be conducted between two communities, as envisaged in the UN resolutions.

"I wish to believe that the international community will not deviate from its efforts and the aim of its initiative will be the achievement of a bizonal and bicommunal federation, based on a state with one sovereignty, one international personality and one citizenship, as provided by the relevant SC resolutions," said Clerides.

Noting the government is always approaching the negotiations with courage and flexibility and will continue to do so, Clerides reiterated his position that he shall not accept "any deviation from the parametres of the relevant resolutions."

He called on the international community to put an end to the unacceptable tactics of the Turkish side "if they really wish for a compromise solution to be found."

Clerides said Cyprus approaches positively Turkey's European orientation and called on the Turkish Cypriots to "join forces with us in our EU accession" which, he said, is "the greatest achievement since the establishment of the Cyprus Republic and is continuing with success."

Cyprus applied for EU membership in July 1990. Substantive accession negotiations began in November 1998.

The President also pledged that until a solution is found, the government "will pursue its policy of strengthening the defence of the free areas within the framework of the doctrine of the joint defence area between Cyprus and Greece."

CNA EC/MM/1999

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1950:CYPPRESS:05

[05] Occupied areas - Warships - Ecevit

According to the Turkish Cypriot press, the warships will sail back to Turkey on Wednesday.

Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, the man who ordered Turkish troops into Cyprus, is expected to pay an illegal one-day visit to the occupied areas on Tuesday, to mark the anniversary of the invasion.

Ecevit was quoted as saying on Sunday that it would be "impossible" for Turkey to make any concessions on Cyprus if there is "no Turkish state" on the island, a reference to Ankara's long standing demand to have its puppet regime in occupied Cyprus recognised.

Provocations continued Monday in the Turkish occupied north with the arrival of Turkish and foreign officials, as well as a meeting of the so called Turkish - Turkish Cypriot association council with the participation of Sukru Sina Gurel, Turkish State Minister, responsible for Cyprus Affairs.

The illegal regime in the occupied areas, established in 1983, is recognised only by Ankara.

The Turkish Cypriot side refuses to attend possible negotiations on a Cyprus settlement under UN auspices in the fall of 1999, unless the illegal regime in the northern part of the island is recognised.

UN resolutions have called on all states not to recognise the regime and described it as "legally invalid."

CNA SA/EC/MM/1999

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

2100:CYPPRESS:06

[06] House of Representatives - July 20

The EOKA liberation struggle of 1955-59, the struggle to defend the newly established Republic of Cyprus between 1963-1967 (when Turkish Cypriots withdrew from the government and trouble flared between the island's two communities) and the resistance against the military coup and the Turkish invasion of July 1974 are now recognised by law.

The legislation stipulates that July 20th, the day Turkey launched its massive invasion of Cyprus, is a day of remembrance and honour for those who fell during these times.

It also provides for the construction of commemorative memorials and the award of moral damages.

The bill of law was submitted by the President of the House Refugees, Enclaved and Missing Persons Committee, Aristofanis Georgiou.

CNA KA/EC/MM/1999

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

Brussels, Jul 19 (CNA) -- "The greatest challenge of Europe for the peoples of the Balkans will be to provide them with the incentive of a future that will be different and better than their past," said Cyprus Foreign Minister, Ioannis Kasoulides.

Addressing the European Conference, Kasoulides urged Europe to reduce tensions by integrating Balkan states into its structures to help tackle problems.

In his statement, Kasoulides stressed that to address the challenges created by the situation in Kosovo, a coherent policy for the entire Balkan region must be defined.

He called for acknowledgment of the ethnic diversity of the Balkan region and for the creation of the conditions "that will render the atrocities and the human suffering...a thing of the past."

"We have to create the conditions necessary for the peaceful coexistence and cooperation of multiethnic states", Kasoulides said, stressing that "fragmentation is not a viable solution" and that internationally recognised borders of all the states of the region "must therefore be respected."

Kasoulides called for the return of all refugees to their homes and properties in conditions of safety, noting it is "a sine qua non for any lasting solution."

Furthermore he said "multiethnic states can survive and prosper only if a culture of tolerance, respect and safeguard of the cultural and religious identities of each community takes a firm root." 

Kasoulides reminded his European counterparts that Cyprus, whose northern part has been under Turkish occupation for a quarter of a century, is still awaiting for the restoration and respect of all these principles and said these values were of paramount importance for the future of Europe.

He called for the protection of the cultural heritage, religious shrines and historical monuments of every community, noting that creating a culture of tolerance is possible only within democratic and open societies based on the respect of human rights and the rule of law.

Kasoulides emphasised that "a long healing process will be necessary, for the peoples of the Western Balkans to put behind them their past and start building their future," and expressed full agreement with the initiatives put forward for action in this field.

Concluding, Kasoulides underlined that "Europe is capable of reducing tensions and solving problems within the European continent through the policy of inclusion and not by exclusion" stressing that this will prove an "incentive strong enough to mobilise these forces that will animate the reconstruction of the region.

CNA EC/MM/1999

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

LAYOUT 000 ú 
----+--------------------+---------@-/---------+---------+---------+-------- -+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---- -----+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---- 
-+----------------+--------------------+------@-/------------+---------+---- -----+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- +---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+----- ----+----
#----+----+----------------+--------------------+---------@-/---------+----- ----+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+- --------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+------- --+---------+----
---\---#----------------------+--------------------+------+-------@-/----+-- -------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+-------- -+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---- -----+---------+----
--#----+----+----------------+--------------------+----@-/--------------+--- ------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- +---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+----- ----+---------+----
--#----+----+----------------+--------------------+---------@-/---------+--- ------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- +---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+----- ----+---------+----
---\---#--------------------------------------------------+-------@-/----+-- -------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+-------- -+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---- -----+---------+----
---\----#-------------------------------------------------+-------@-/----+-- -------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+-------- -+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---- -----+---------+----
---#-----------------------------------------------------+-@-/----------+--- ------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+--------- +---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+----- ----+---------+----

Cyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article