Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 07-07-18

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

CONTENTS

[01] PRESIDENT PAPADOPOYLOS - CYPRUS PROBLEM

[02] JULY AGREEMENT - MEETINGS

[01] PRESIDENT PAPADOPOYLOS - CYPRUS PROBLEM

We know very well which provisions we are ready to accept and which not. With the same certainty, we know which provisions the solution should include so that it is just, viable and functional. We have repeatedly expressed our positions which we have conveyed to the UN, he noted.

Speaking in Paphos at the inauguration ceremony of a Resistance Park to commemorate those who lost their lives defending democracy in Cyprus, President Papadopoulos said that the government of Cyprus has determined the substantive issues that should be discussed in the framework of the July 8th agreement so that a basis is created for a solution of the Cyprus problem, in line with the High Level Agreements of 1977 and 1979, the UN principles, the International Law and the principles and values on which the EU is founded.

The Cypriot President stressed that ``those who pretend they are not aware of our goals and the kind of solution we pursue, are just trying to present their unconfessed position that the only solution plan, on the basis of which negotiations can begin, is the plan that the overwhelming majority of Greek Cypriots have rejected during the 2004 referenda, namely the Annan plan.

He added that the government of Cyprus has done its utmost to convince its EU partners to determine that the solution of the Cyprus problem should be based on the UN resolutions and the European principles, a very important provision which is included in the EU Turkey Negotiating Framework as well as in other decisions of the EU institutions.

The Cypriot President said that today, the fate of Cyprus and the future of the Greek Cypriots are at stake.

We have the responsibility to fight for our rights, to struggle for a just, viable and functional solution, to hand over to the next generations a reunited country, free from demarcation lines and occupation armies, he stressed.

He furthermore said:

Being the President of the Republic of Cyprus, and leader of the Cypriot Hellenism, I assume that part of responsibility that belongs to me. I take the responsibility and I will fulfill it, having as main goal the achievement of justice in Cyprus and a better future for our tried people.

The President reiterated the steadfast commitment of the government of Cyprus for a just solution of the Cyprus problem.

We are committed to reach a solution based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation with the correct meaning and content of each one of these terms, he said.

Noting that there is no other aim than reaching a bicommunal, bizonal federation solution, he said that the achievement of this goal depends mainly on the Turkish side.

The key to the solution of the Cyprus problem is not in our hands, its in Ankaras hands. And those who unilaterally say that our side does not wish for a solution, in reality they take the blame out of Turkey, he said.

The President noted that first and foremost, it is the Greek Cypriot side that wishes for a speedy solution of the Cyprus problem, since it is the Greek Cypriots who have to live with the negative consequences of the Turkish occupation and non solution of the problem.

But the President said that no matter how urgent is our need and wish for a solution, we will not and can not accept any solution, just for the sake of closing the Cyprus problem.

Cyprus, an EU member state since May 2004, has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third.

Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat agreed on 8 July 2006, during a meeting in Nicosia in the presence of UN senior official Ibrahim Gambari, to begin a process of bicommunal discussions on issues that affect the day-to-day life of the people and concurrently those that concern substantive issues, both contributing to a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem.

[02] JULY AGREEMENT - MEETINGS

Palmas said there is no scheduled meeting either between the Director of the Diplomatic Office of the President of Cyprus Tasos Tzionis and the aide of the Turkish Cypriot leader Rasit Pertev or between Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.

Palmas was responding to comments by Talats spokesman Hasan Ercakica that a meeting between Papadopoulos and Talat could take place if the Greek Cypriot side wants it.

Palmas recalled that Papadopoulos hand sent two letters to Talat, one calling for a meeting between them at the Anthropological Laboratory of the Committee on Missing Persons to which Talat did not respond and for a meeting with the President, with a view to pursue the implementation of the July 2006 agreement.

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