Cyprus Government Spokesman Daily Briefing, 03-11-24

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From: "HR-Net News Distribution Manager" <dist@hri.org>

Daily briefing of the Press by the Government Spokesman

24 November 2003

At the beginning of today's briefing of the press, the Government Spokesman Mr Kypros Chrysostomides stated, inter alia, that President Papadopoulos would depart for Athens the following day at 7 a.m. for an official visit and following that he would participate in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which would take place in Nigeria from 2-10 December. Mr Chrysostomides said that President Papadopoulos would then go to Brussels to participate in the Summit of the European Council which would take place between 12 and 13 December.

Mr Chrysostomides added:

"Today the President of the Republic had a meeting with the President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Parliament, Mr Gustavo Silva and later on he met with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal, Mr Carlos Costa Neves. He will also have a meeting with the Representative of the Armenian Religious Group, Mr Bedros Kalaydjian."

Mr Chrysostomides was then asked to comment on what President Papadopoulos had stated in daily newspaper "Politis" namely that, if Mr Denktash had signed the Annan Plan he would not have done so. The Government Spokesman was also asked whether the Government worried about Mr Denktash using President Papadopoulos' statement in order to hit the Turkish Cypriot opposition forces. The Government Spokesman replied as follows:

"The comments in the Turkish Cypriot press have been noted as well as Mr Erel's particularly harsh statements by which he warns us of claiming recognition of the so- called state, sovereignty etc."

Mr Chrysostomides said that the clarity of the President's statements should be appreciated and added that President Papadopoulos' basic position, which he reiterated in his interview, was that the Greek Cypriot side was ready to resume negotiations on the basis of the Annan Plan in order to find a solution to the Cyprus problem before 1st May 2004, which was also the position of the National Council.

Asked how some secondary changes in the Annan Plan would make it more functional in the EU context when it was considered destructive in its current form, Mr Chrysostomides said that nobody said that the Annan Plan was destructive.

"On the contrary, what the President wished to underline is the fact that there should not be a time gap between the signing of an agreement and putting into force the new arrangements. However, nothing further needs to be said at this stage in view of the wider anticipation for the resumption of the talks. Besides, the President said that what he would do was to ask for the resumption of the talks after the so-called elections in the occupied areas of the Republic."

Asked whether President Papadopoulos was willing to accept certain faits accomplis and not the faits accomplis of the occupation by signing a solution plan which would result, Mr Chrysostomides replied negatively and added that President Papadopoulos had indicated a fact. He also said that the issue of the settlers was left open and expressed his certainty that it would be discussed during the negotiations.

Asked whether the Greek Cypriot side would accept the plan, if the Turkish Cypriot side accepted it and put it to a referendum, Mr Chrysostomides said that President Papadopoulos reiterated that the Annan Plan, in its current form, was not accepted by the National Council but it was accepted as a basis for negotiations. Mr Chrysostomides added that President Papadopoulos had expressed the readiness of the Greek Cypriot side to commence negotiations in order to bring about the necessary improvements in the Annan Plan which would render it more functional.

Asked to comment on Mr Weston's statements that while the Greek Cypriot side was asking for changes concerning the functionality of the state, the Turkish side was considering some other options, Mr Chrysostomides said that those were not the exact statements by Mr Weston and added that what Mr Weston tried to describe was the context of the negotiations which were expected to commence.

Asked whether President Papadopoulos had agreed with what the Minister of Foreign Affairs had stated, and asked to comment on a journalist's allegation that they caused negative reactions on the part of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Government Spokesman said that the reactions by both, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and the former Government Spokesman were unjustified. Mr Chrysostomides recalled Mr Verheugen's statement that Mr Denktash was providing "Turkish Cypriot citizenship" to foreign nationals and Turkish settlers.

Mr Chrysostomides said:

"Therefore, any 'elections' in the occupied areas do not have the form of a referendum, as the two gentlemen tried to say while making statements on Mr Iacovou."

Mr Chrysostomides also said that Mr Weston did not make a complaint for Mr Iacovou's statements and that he also made statements of similar content when he was in Cyprus.

Asked to comment on the plan that the Turkish side was preparing and whether it indicated an effort for safeguarding a priori the recognition of sovereignty on the part of the pseudostate, Mr Chrysostomides said the following:

"It is an approach by Mr Denktash on the same line which he has been following for years. Our side because the Government does not get involved in negotiations as you very well know, the Greek Cypriot side gets involved does not accept these kinds of manoeuvres. We aim at the resumption of talks and negotiations on the basis of the Annan Plan under the aegis of the UN on the basis of the Security Council's Resolutions."

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