Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 97-07-03

Cyprus Press and Information Office: News Updates in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>

News Update

Thursday, 03/07/97

CONTENTS

• [01] Holbrooke to meet leaders on eve of talks
• [02] Main effort for Cyprus settlement will take place next year, says President
• [03] Cyprus to host conference on money laundering

[01] Holbrooke to meet leaders on eve of talks

According to diplomatic sources, Holbrooke requested to meet the two leaders on 8 July the day before the five-day negotiations are due to start.

Holbrooke is also expected to have talks with Foreign Minister Ioannis Kassoulides. He will meet Clerides and Denktash separately.

"The purpose will be to get acquainted and lay the groundwork for negotiations that will get rolling in the fall," an official in Holbrooke's office said in a telephone interview with the Reuters news agency.

The US mediator will not be at Troutbeck for the peace talks, but is scheduled to visit Cyprus after the first round of negotiations are complete.

It is understood the UN is planning to hold three rounds of direct talks between Clerides and Denktash.

Moreover State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns, asked to comment yesterday on threats by Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, that he might not go to New York because a document would be presented the contents of which he ignored, said that it is very important that both parties are represented at the highest possible level.

"Peace is not going to be made if you stay away from the conference table. Peace will not be made if you are not there", he added, urging support for the efforts of the UN Secretary General to convene the talks on Cyprus.

Asked whether the US had contributed in the preparation of this document, Mr Burns said that the US had consulted intensively with the United Nations.

He added, however, "We have our own special negotiator in the person of Dick Holbrooke. We will be carrying on separate discussions, but always in conjunction with the efforts of the United Nations and the United Kingdom with Sir David Hannay and in the spirit of co-operation that all of us together might make a small contribution to move the process forward knowing that the people who really need to make the basic effort here are the parties themselves, President Clerides and Mr. Denktash".

[02] Main effort for Cyprus settlement will take place next year, says President

"We reached the conclusion that the real effort will not be now, but in 1998," Clerides said at Larnaca airport. "We do not know whether a solution will be found, and given the facts we have before us now, we did not conclude that we can say a solution will be found", he added.

He said that he and Greek politicians had agreed on how far it would be safe for the Greek Cypriot side to go in the negotiations due to start in New York next week.

"We did not discuss what we will give and what we will take. We discussed what the safety parameters are and we reached a unanimous decision on those safety parameters," he said.

The President also said the UN intends to outline its views orally at the start of the face-to-face talks as "talking points" to the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides.

"I was informed that the so-called paper would be what one would call talking points on what we will hear orally", he said, adding that the talking points would relate to the fundamental aspects of the Cyprus problem.

These, he added, do not run contrary to the decisions of the National Council, the top advisory body to the President on the handling of the Cyprus problem.

Mr Clerides also confirmed he would be meeting next week with US Presidential Emissary Richard Holbrooke, saying that "Holbrooke will seek to find out the basic issues, our positions on them" and try to ascertain whether any compromises can be made.

He also said while in New York for the talks there will be meetings with envoys of other countries interested in efforts for a settlement in Cyprus.

Before leaving Athens, President Clerides had a meeting with Greek Premier and Honorary President of New Democracy party, Constantinos Mitsotakis.

In statements to the press Mr Mitsotakis said that this could be the last phase of the Cyprus problem and that a solution in 1998 was very possible in view of the fact that the international community considers the time is ripe for a Cyprus settlement and that there is active US interest.

Referring to Cyprus' bid to join the European Union, Mitsotakis said it would force Turkey to take its own decisions regarding the Cyprus issue and added that a settlement would also benefit Ankara.

"A just, viable and workable solution to the Cyprus issue will benefit Turkey," he noted.

President Clerides also met with New Democracy leader, Costas Karamanlis, whom he briefed on the latest developments in the Cyprus question.

In a statement after the meeting, Karamanlis said his party and Greece "fully back all efforts for a solution in Cyprus".

Mr Clerides will leave for the US on Sunday, 6 July, stopping over in London.

[03] Cyprus to host conference on money laundering

The three-day meeting will mainly focus on the impact of organised crime on the banking systems of different countries in the region.

The conference will be open to suggestions for the application of effective measures that will guard against the use of the banking system for laundering the proceeds generated from criminal activities.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus, Afxentis Afxentiou, will address the meeting along with speakers from the US, Britain, Switzerland and other countries.

Presentations will also relate to the action taken by different countries in their effort to combat money laundering.

Andreas Philippou, Chief Senior Manager of the Central Bank of Cyprus, will outline the measures Cyprus is taking to fight international financial crime.

From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/

Cyprus Press and Information Office: News Updates in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article