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Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 12-04-22Cyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>CONTENTS
[01] UNSG: No sufficient progress for an international conferenceUN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon conveyed his assessment to Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu that there is no sufficient progress on core issues of the Cyprus problem that would provide a basis for calling an international conference at this time.According to a statement by the Spokesperson of the UNSG, Ban talked on Saturday over the phone with the two Cyprus leaders, following his meeting in New York with the Special Advisor on Cyprus Alexander Downer. The Secretary-General, it is added, urged the two sides to undertake bold and decisive action in order to move the process forward. Ban also informed the leaders that his conclusions would be discussed with them in more detail by Downer, who will travel to Cyprus next week for this purpose. Diplomatic sources say that Ban's meeting with Downer on Friday, in the presence of Under-Secretary-General of the UN for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe and the Irish expert on governance issues John McGarry, focused on ways to continue the process in Cyprus, under certain conditions, which Downer will discuss with the leaders in Cyprus. The effort is to come up with an acceptable formula, to continue talks until the last quarter of 2012, in line with the UN Security Council mandate. An official announcement issued on Saturday by the Presidential Palace, in Nicosia, confirmed the content of the telephone conversation between President Christofias and the Secretary-General. The announcement adds that the two men had a cordial and friendly discussion, while it is noted that Ban informed the Cyprus President that he will be briefed in detail by Downer, in their meeting scheduled for April 27, in Nicosia. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third. A new round of peace talks started on September 2008 to find a negotiated settlement that will reunify the country, under a federal roof. The leaders of the two communities in Cyprus, President of the Republic Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, met last January with the UN Secretary-General in New York. In his statement after the conclusion of the talks, Ban urged the two leaders to make decisive steps towards a final agreement on the Cyprus problem. He said that he would be hearing about the progress of the talks from his Special Adviser Alexander Downer and would decide on the next steps. [02] House President: Cyprus to act as bridge in the regionCyprus can act as a bridge between the EU and the countries of the Middle East, as it has done in the past during various circumstances, House President Yiannakis Omirou noted, while addressing the Conference of Presidents of the Parliaments of EU member states, in Warsaw.Omirou said that he was expecting to welcome the representatives of national Parliaments and the European Parliament in Cyprus, during the next few months, when the country assumes the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU, as well as to host his EU counterparts at the April 2013 Conference of EU House Presidents. According to an official announcement, Omirou said that the goal of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus is to host all meetings with success, in the firm belief that these can serve the purpose of achieving a better Europe that will always put to the front the interests of its people. Omirou invited in Cyprus his counterparts from EU Parliaments, as the Cyprus House hosts the next Conference, in April 2013. The Conference is being hosted by the country assuming the rotating EU Presidency during the second semester of each year, and is being held in the ensuing semester. [03] Turkey undermines a Cyprus solution Defence Minister saysTurkey holds the key for a Cyprus solution, its attitude, however, is undermining the peace process with its provocative acts and threats to apply a "Plan B", in view of Cyprus' EU Presidency term in the second half of 2012, Defence Minister Demetris Eliades stressed today.Speaking during a memorial service, in Nicosia, Eliades said that UN-led talks in Cyprus are on a standstill, while noting that the intransigence and backpedaling of the Turkish side do not allow any room for optimism. The Minister said that 38 years after the Turkish invasion, the Cypriot tragedy does not come to an end, with settlers from Turkey multiplying in the Turkish-occupied areas, and the continuation of Greek Cypriot property usurpation, the destruction of cultural heritage and the occupation of the islands northern third by Turkish troops. The good will the Greek Cypriot side alone displays, based on the principles of international and European law and the High Level Agreements of 1977 and 1979, is not enough to reach a viable solution, the Minister went on. He added that Cyprus challenges Turkey's attitude, calling Ankara to cooperate in a substantive manner to solve the Cyprus problem and turn the island into an area of freedom, peace, coexistence and progress. Cyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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