Cyprus Government Spokesman Daily Briefing, 03-12-12

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

Daily briefing of the Press by the Government Spokesman

December 12, 2003

At the beginning of today's briefing of the Press, the Government Spokesman Mr Kypros Chrysostomides stated inter alia that the Government of Cyprus does not intend to impose any restrictions on movement in view to the voting in the occupied area. However, he added, because there may be tension the Government had already issued an announcement asking the citizens to be careful if they wanted to go to the occupied area on Sunday, the day on which the voting would take place.

Mr Chrysostomides reiterated that our position is that there should be free movement in Cyprus and full protection of human rights without any restrictions.

The Government Spokesman also said that the President of the Republic is already in Brussels, where a very important Intergovernmental Summit for the European Constitution takes place, and noted that among the issues that will be discussed are the issues of the voting, the extension of qualified majority and the Commissioners.

Referring to the statement made the day before by Mr Eroglu, who said that the money given by Turkey to the occupied area as financial support is deposited in the Turkish ´´Embassy´´ account, Mr Chrysostomides said that it reconfirms the position of our side on who rules over the occupied area.

Asked whether there was any specific information that there would be tension in the occupied area on Sunday, he said that the Government's announcement was preventive.

Commenting on the fact that Mr Weston was expected to arrive in Cyprus on the night of the voting, Mr Chrysostomides said that Mr Weston wanted to get a closer view of the procedure and added that a meeting between Mr Weston and the President of the Republic has already been arranged for December 17th.

Asked about President Papadopoulos´ statement that he will contact the UN Secretary General Mr Annan after the voting, the Government Spokesman said that our side had stated our will to resume talks on the basis of the Annan Plan immediately after the Hague meeting but the statements made by Mr Denktash and the Turkish side did not seem to in any way alter their negative stance. Maybe after the voting, he added, there will be an indication that a large part of the Turkish Cypriot community opposes the Denktash policy.

Mr Chrysostomides also said that President Papadopoulos would try to persuade the UN SG that the talks must be resumed and added that Mr Annan may have to take into consideration that it is not possible to set a date for a referendum before the completion of the negotiation of the plan. Our goal is to complete the negotiations as soon as possible so that the Cypriot citizens are informed about the plan´ s final content and there is time for preparation before the referendum and before the 1st of May 2004, he added.

Asked whether Mr Annan intents to do anything in the case Mr Denktash stays, Mr Chrysostomides said that there is no specific information on Mr Annan´ s intentions and added that the developments may play a role.

Asked whether President Papadopoulos´ move has something to do with the information concerning a submission of a solution plan by the Turkish side, Mr Chrysostomides said that the stance of our side and of the President of the Republic is totally independent from any manoeuvres made by Mr Denktash or Mr Erdogan.

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