Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 11-03-17

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

CONTENTS

[01] UN ENVOY - CYPRUS TALKS

[02] HOUSE - CYPRUS FILE

[03] ECONOMY - MEASURES

[04] CYPRUS - NUCLEAR

[01] UN ENVOY - CYPRUS TALKS

Speaking after a meeting on Thursday with President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias, Downer said he was able to the President ``a bit of rundown on what had happened in the Security Council, because it is a closed session so Cyprus obviously was not represented there, so I was able to fill him in on how that had gone.``

``Then we had a discussion about the talks and going forward over the next week, of course. There is a meeting tomorrow. Tomorrow`s meeting will actually be the 100th meeting between the leaders, obviously not between Mr. Eroglu and Mr. Christofias but between Mr. Christofias and both Mr. Talat and Mr. Eroglu. So it will be 100th meeting so that should just be a reminder that we need to keep the momentum going in the process,`` he added.

Asked how he expected to narrow the gaps between the two sides on the issue of citizenship, since the Turkish Cypriot side insists that all Turkish settlers are citizens of the puppet regime, Downer said ``I discussed this with Mr. Christofias and we have discussed this in New York as well amongst ourselves within in the UN.``

Ultimately, this is a matter for Mr. Christofias and Mr. Eroglu to sort out between themselves. We have a UN agency called the UNFPA, the UN Fund for Population, and they might be able to help them a bit as well. The Secretary General made this point in Geneva that the UN is always happy to help and they can help through an agency such as the UNFPA if that is what the leaders would like. So let us see. I have got things to talk to Mr. Eroglu about tomorrow,`` he said.

Downer noted that ``that will be one of the things I want to talk to him about as well,`` adding that ``there is not a convergence, that is true, and there is a need for the two leaders to work their way through this.``

Asked if the territorial issue would be discussed, Downer said that ``there are links between the issue of property and territory, there has been some discussion about the extent to which the Turkish Cypriots want to discuss territory with property, and we certainly want to tidy all that up and as quickly as we can,`` adding that ``we do not want that to be a continuing problem.``

[02] HOUSE - CYPRUS FILE

It also decided the findings and archives it has gathered will be available to historians, researchers and the people of Cyprus, in a way which the House will decide.

A total of 32 members of the House (AKEL, DEKO, Socialist EDEK and the Environmentalists Movement member of the House) voted in favour while the 15 MPs of the Democratic Rally and EVROKO present voted against.

In the decision, the House notes that the Committee has come up with the findings and its aim was not to apportion criminal responsibilities but to present the information to the parliament for archival purposes.

[03] ECONOMY - MEASURES

Speaking after the meeting, Minister of Finance Charilaos Stavrakis said that the package benefits 160,000 persons in five categories, namely pensioners with low income, persons with disabilities, receivers of state allowances, workers in the private sector with low income, and long-term unemployed persons.

``Today a very important commitment of the Government is being implemented. The President of the Republic had promised the trade unions and in general the society a package of 20 million EUR,`` he said, adding that ``the package is about 20% higher than our commitment, which proves the constant effort of the Government to strengthen the groups of the population that are most affected by the financial crisis.``

Minister of Labour and Social Insurance Soteroulla Charalambous said that the pensioners would benefit through two plans, and especially by the decision to increase their Easter allowance by 50 EUR, to 350 EUR. The pensioners would also benefit from the increase of the poverty threshold, in the plan already implemented to support the income of pensioners with low pensions.

[04] CYPRUS - NUCLEAR

Replying to questions about the Akkuyu plant, taking into consideration the aftermath of the Fukusima disaster in Japan, Stephanou said that ``there has always been much discussion concerning the construction of nuclear stations for the production of electricity and, as it is well known, now with the whole scene in Japan and the situation developing after the powerful earthquake and the damage to the nuclear station, various issues will be raised in the EU.``

``The Republic of Cyprus will attend very well prepared,`` he said, adding that, as far as he knew, a meeting of the Ministers who deal with nuclear energy issues has already been convened.

Replying to questions about Turkey`s insistence to construct a nuclear power plant, Stephanou said that ``we always examine these issues seriously and make all necessary representations, in order to defend the interests of the Republic.``

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