Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 09-06-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] PRESIDENT CYRPUS TALKS

[02] LEADERS MEETING

[03] COMMISSIONER EP ELECTIONS

[04] GSSE COMPETITIVE PROGRAMME

[01] PRESIDENT CYRPUS TALKS

Any such move, he said, would be harmful for the people of Cyprus and efforts to reach a settlement of the island`s political problem.

He noted that the Cyprus problem should be solved on a basis acceptable by the Greek Cypriot side too.

Commenting on remarks by Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat that the Turkish Cypriots should obtain at least 29% of the territory and that they had not agreed on giving back Morphou town, on the northwest, President Christofias said negotiations through the media have never assisted the negotiations themselves.

``I suspect Mr. Talat is under pressure internally and from Turkey, to make such statements, which of course do not help,`` he added.

Asked if the UN Secretary General`s Special Adviser on Cyprus Alexander Downer was exerting pressure on political party leaders for a settlement, President Christofias said this matter would be looked into.

``I am not a political leader. Mr. Downer would not dare say something like that to me. I do not know what he has been saying to the political leaders. These are matters to be investigated. I will speak with the political leaders,`` President Christofias added.

He noted that the whole matter demanded caution and that ``the main aim is not to make enemies but to win friends.``

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third.

President Christofias and Talat have been engaged in UN-led direct negotiations since September 2008, with an aim to reunite the island.

[02] LEADERS MEETING

This will be the 31st meeting during which President of the Republic Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will conclude the discussion on the economy, according to Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General on Cyprus Alexander Downer.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. President Christofias and Talat have been engaged in UN-led direct negotiations since September 2008 to reunite the island.

[03] COMMISSIONER EP ELECTIONS

We all have to go to the polling stations and elect the candidates we believe will represent Cyprus properly at the European Parliament, Vassiliou said, addressing an open discussion organised in the coastal town of Limassol entitled Cyprus EU: 5 years of accession.

She referred to the importance of Cyprus as an EU member state, saying that one of the reasons Cyprus decided to join the Union was the security the EU offers to its member states. If Cyprus was an EU member state in 1974, Turkey would not have dared to invade, Vasilliou pointed out.

[04] GSSE COMPETITIVE PROGRAMME

More than one thousand athletes from eight small states of Europe with an independent Olympic Committee - Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, San Marino and Cyprus -begin today their efforts in eleven out of twelve sports.

Athletes will compete in athletics, tennis, table tennis, gymnastics, swimming, sailing, basketball, volleyball, shooting and judo.

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