Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 07-08-23

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

CONTENTS

[01] JULY AGREEMENT - SEPTEMBER MEETING

[02] SPOKESMAN - FEDERAL SOLUTION

[03] CHELSEA OWNER - CYPRUS GOVERNMENT

[04] UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY - INAUGURATION

[01] JULY AGREEMENT - SEPTEMBER MEETING

Commenting on the September 5th meeting, Government Spokesman Vasilis Palmas has announced that there will be no more comments, statements or remarks on the matter, irrespective of any provocations from any quarters.

The reasoning behind the decision to abstain from any further comment lies in our determination not to kill the meeting before it even takes place through statements, counterstatements or public debate, he explained.

Asked if this was a unilateral move, he said this is the view of the government on the matter and expressed hope that during the period leading to the meeting there would be low-key remarks to help create a positive climate to prevent a negative atmosphere between President Tassos Papadopoulos and Mehmet Ali Talat.

He said the government does not intend to comment on statements, no matter how provocative other remarks may be from the media, the opposition, Ankara, the Turkish military or Turkish Cypriot politicians.

Responding to questions, he said there is no scheduled meeting before 5 September between Papadopoulos senior aide, the Director of his Diplomatic Office Tasos Tzionis, and Talats adviser Rashit Pertev, who have been holding regular meetings since the July 8th agreement of last year.

There is a desire to discuss matters pertaining to the July agreement and everything else the two leaders consider necessary to raise at their discussions, as this emerges from the exchange of letters between Papadopoulos and Talat, the spokesman added.

President Papadopoulos had written to Talat in early July this year inviting him to a meeting to discuss the modalities to push forward the implementation of the 2006 agreement, they reached under UN auspices which provides for setting up technical committees and working groups to deal with day to day issues as well as issues of substance of the Cyprus problem. A year after the agreement, this has not been achieved so far.

Palmas reiterated Papadopoulos earlier remarks that there should be no preconditions set for the September meeting to facilitate the situation in the hope that something important will come out of it. This will be the first meeting between the President and Talat since they met last July.

Asked if anything beyond the July agreement may be agreed at the forthcoming meeting, Palmas replied: the only specific document we have before us at present, the only tangible document which has the consent of the UN and that of the two leaders is the July 8th agreement of 2006.

Therefore, the basis of the discussion must focus on this agreement which includes elements that could provide an opportunity to create the preconditions for progress towards a political settlement in Cyprus, he concluded.

[02] SPOKESMAN - FEDERAL SOLUTION

His comments come in the wake of statements and counterstatements by the political leadership regarding a bizonal bicommunal federation. The spate of remarks was sparked by comments made by the head of the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus who appeared critical of those advocating a bizonal bicommunal federation without defining its specific contents.

He also suggested that such circles are trying to bring back a UN-proposed solution plan, the Annan plan, which was rejected in a referendum in April 2004, but do not dare say so in so many words. Party leaders followed suit in their comments on the Archbishops speech, with some of them urging him to keep out of the political arena and others saying he has the right to air his views on the question of Cyprus. There should not be any differences and I do not think there are any among the parties with regard to the contents of the solution, the Government Spokesman said, noting that in the past few days there have been confrontational statements on the matter.

[03] CHELSEA OWNER - CYPRUS GOVERNMENT

In this case, I believe things have cleared up completely and there is no need for any further comment on the matter, Government Spokesman Vasilis Palmas has said, commenting on reports that Roman Abramovich has invested in real estate project Chelsey Village in the Turkish occupied village of Klepini, which he denied categorically, describing them as entirely false. The government considers the matter closed, he added, and cautioned against the reproduction of Turkish media reports which turn out to be unsubstantiated and uncorroborated and cause problems.

Responding to questions about the exploitation of Greek Cypriot owned property in Turkish occupied Cyprus, the spokesman said this was one of the core issues of the question of Cyprus which is the direct result of the continuing stalemate following the 1974 Turkish invasion of the island. We are making every effort to deal with property matters, when they arise and undoubtedly there are difficulties in such issues, he added. He also said that once the actual owner of the Chelsey Village is found, and all facts are established, the government will act accordingly.

[04] UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY - INAUGURATION

On the occasion of the opening of the University which aspires to become a modern and pioneering university capable of offering high level training and research in popular fields, various functions and events will also be organised in September in the southern coastal town of Limassol, where the University is based.

The Cyprus University of Technology comprises the following faculties: Faculty of Geotechnical Sciences and Environmental Management, Faculty of Economics and Management, Faculty of Applied Arts and Communication, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Faculty of Health Sciences.

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