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Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 08-01-28Cyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>CONTENTS
[01] PAPADOPOULOS - ARCHBISHOP ATHENSCyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos has expressed deep sorrow over the death earlier this morning of Archbishop of Athens and All of Greece Christodoulos.On behalf of the government and the people of Cyprus, I express deep sorrow for the death of the Archbishop of Athens and All of Greece, Papadopoulos says in a written statement. The deceased was an important figure in the Orthodox church, a staunch protector of the just cause of Cyprus and a prominent personality of modern Hellenism. I shall always keep alive the memory of our meetings and remember the emotions his words and his passion for Cyprus and its just cause evoked. He has honoured me with sincere friendship and I honour him with gratitude for everything he has said and done for Cyprus, President Papadopoulos concluded. [02] CYPRIOT JUDGE - EUROPEAN COURTThe Cypriot judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Loukis Loukaides, who is retiring at the end of January, recommends to the local political leadership to make the most of Court judgments, relating to Cyprus, in the political arena.Having served the Court for nine years, Loukaides carries with him a lot of memorable moments, acknowledges the dissenting opinions of his colleagues, which he says are always based on legal points, and stresses the need to see Court decisions implemented, in particular those concerning human rights violations by Turkey in Cyprus. He believes that the rule of law applies in Cyprus where the judiciary, he says, is independent and all governments respect human rights. On the political front, Loukaides says that the solution in Cyprus must be a unitary state where every Cypriot, irrespective of origin, will enjoy the same rights: rule of law, democracy, human rights and freedom. In an interview with CNA, Loukaides, who is also President of the International Association for the Protection of Human Rights in Cyprus, stressed that a Cyprus settlement should aim at the restoration of the human rights of all Cypriots and should not be based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation, which he believes, does not include by definition some of the fundamental human rights but establishes racial discrimination and is not compatible with a European solution, which provides for respect of human rights and international law. [03] CHRISTOFIAS - GREECEA Cypriot delegation, headed by President of the House of Representatives and General Secretary of AKEL left wing party, Demetris Christofias, visited over the weekend Ayia Anna community in Greece, which was badly hit during last summers catastrophic forest fires.Christofias handed over a cheque of 61,000 euro as a token of support and solidarity of the Cypriot people to the citizens of Ayia Anna, who still suffer the consequences of the devastating fires. A Turkish Cypriot trade union delegation, accompanying Christofias, donated 1,000 olive saplings to Ayia Anna to help revive agriculture in the area. Peace, friendship, cooperation and solidarity among peoples solve problems and paves the way for further progress, Christofias told the people of Ayia Anna who warmly welcomed the Cypriot delegation. He also said the olive saplings symbolise peace and recalled that two olive branches adorn the Cypriot flag. President of the Turkish Cypriot trade union DEV-IS, Mehmet Seys, said that progressive Turkish Cypriot trade unionists ``feel the pain of the Greek people and began a campaign to collect 1,000 olive saplings to be planted in Greece as a symbol of friendship``. [04] FM - EUCyprus Minister of Foreign Affairs, Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis made clear on Sunday that under no circumstances there can be harmonization between the Turkish Cypriot community and the EU acquis communautaire, recalling that the acquis can be applied throughout the Republic after the settlement of the Cyprus problem.Marcoullis was speaking to the press before her departure for Brussels where she will attend the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council and she will meet the EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn. From Brussels Marcoullis will travel for Helsinki for contacts with her Finnish counterpart and other officials, while on Friday she will go to Estonia to meet, among others, the Estonian President and Members of the Parliament. Asked whether during her meeting with Rehn she will raise the issue of the ports in the Turkish occupied since 1974 areas of Cyprus, after Rehn`s written reply to Cypriot MEP Marios Matsakis that according to the general principles of international law, entry and exit of ships from the closed ports of Cyprus is not prohibited and therefore it is not in a position to intervene accordingly to the Syrian authorities regarding the illegal use of the closed port of Famagusta by a cruise ship, on an illegal sea route to Latakia, Syria. Cyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |