Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 10-05-09

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

CONTENTS

[01] PRESIDENT CHRISTOFIAS - MISSING PERSONS

[02] PRESIDENT CHRISTOFIAS - DIRECT TRADE REGULATION

[03] FM - CYPRUS ISSUE

[04] HOUSE PRESIDENT - PEACE TALKS

[01] PRESIDENT CHRISTOFIAS - MISSING PERSONS

Speaking at the funeral service of Costas Georghiou, who was murdered during the 1974 Turkish invasion and whose remains have been located and identified through the DNA method, the President said that today we renew our commitment to the relatives of our missing to continue demanding full investigation into their fate.

We remain committed to reaching a solution of the Cyprus problem which will safeguard the fundamental freedoms of all Cypriots, end the occupation, halt Turkeys policy to bring illegal settlers to the island and free Cyprus from foreign dependencies, he stressed.

The President said we remain committed to the principles and the basis for a solution in Cyprus, adding that we strive for a bizonal, bicommunal federation for one state, with one sovereignty, one international personality and one citizenship with political equality of the two communities as described in the relevant UNSC resolutions.

The solution, he said, must be functional, viable and on the basis of the principles of international law, UN resolutions, the High Level Agreements of 1977 and 1979 and the principles and values on which the EU is founded.

``This is our goal and for its implementation we struggle with consistency. This is our commitment to our dead. This is our commitment to the new generation and the generations to come, he concluded.

As a result of the 1974 Turkish invasion in Cyprus, 1619 Greek-Cypriots were listed as missing, most of whom soldiers or reservists, who were captured in the battlefield.

Among them, however, were many civilians, women and children, arrested by the Turkish invasion troops and Turkish Cypriot paramilitary groups, within the area controlled by the Turkish army after the end of hostilities and far away from the military front.

Many of those missing were last seen alive in the hands of the Turkish military. The Committee on Missing Persons has been engaged in a process of exhumation and identification of remains of both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, who have been missing since the early 1960s when intercommunal fighting broke out.

[02] PRESIDENT CHRISTOFIAS - DIRECT TRADE REGULATION

The President said that despite the fact that the Turkish side is becoming more and more negative and developments in occupied Cyprus are not positive, there is an effort to cover up this and to approve decisions which do not respect the Republic of Cyprus, as an EU member state. Cyprus, he went on to note, is an EU member state, whose legal government is prevented from exercising full control over its entire territory, since 37% of its territory is occupied by the Turkish army since 1974.

President Christofias underlined that the occupied part of Cyprus belongs to the Republic of Cyprus and it is EU territory. The President recalled that Turkish Cypriots can trade their goods through their country, which is the Republic of Cyprus, and through its legal ports or airports, which are controlled by the Cypriot government`s authorities.

[03] FM - CYPRUS ISSUE

In a couple of weeks talks will resume and there, at the negotiating table, the moment of truth will be revealed, he stressed. At the negotiating table, he said, it will be clarified whether the change in the Turkish Cypriot leadership has brought a change in its positions at the Cyprus talks. Turkey must finally undertake its responsibilities and express its position on the prospect, the shape and the aim of the solution of the Cyprus problem and it must stop hiding behind the Turkish Cypriots, he stressed.

Referring to his meeting with the Ambassadors of the Republic of Cyprus in EU capitals, he said that they will exchange views on various current issues, such as the resumption of the Cyprus talks and coordination on the EU regulation on direct trade between Cyprus northern Turkish occupied areas and EU member states, which the government is opposing.

[04] HOUSE PRESIDENT - PEACE TALKS

Speaking at a memorial service for the heroes of Emba community in Pafos, Garoyian said that Nicosia should protest Turkish intransigence and its strategy to promote a con-federation in Cyprus and not a federation, as it was agreed between the islands two communities. If the Turkish side insists provocatively on exploiting the process of the ongoing direct negotiations in order to promote a solution based on a con-federation, we must not hesitate, we must protest this Turkish strategy and create those circumstances that would increase the cost for Turkey, he went on to add.

He stressed that Turkey must finally submit clear positions on all aspects of the Cyprus problem and stop stalling for time. Ankara must clearly say whether it accepts a solution on the basis of the principles and UN resolutions, the High Level Agreements of 1977 and 1979, the principles and values on which the EU is founded, the principles of international law and the rule of law and of course it must prove this in deeds with clear positions and actions, he pointed out.

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