Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 97-07-10

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

Thursday, 10/07/97

CONTENTS

• [01] Lasting peace in Cyprus is within our grasp, says UN Chief
• [02] US, Canada, Sweden and Greece welcome Cyprus talks
• [03] Hannay believes solution is within reach
• [04] OSCE should act more decisively, says Cypriot MP
• [05] New Cyprus Ambassador to Japan
• [06] Cooperation agreements between Cyprus and Yugoslavia

[01] Lasting peace in Cyprus is within our grasp, says UN Chief

In his opening statement, Mr Annan said he did not aim to have to report another missed opportunity on the Cyprus issue to the Security Council.

He warned President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, that "the consequences of failure are likely to be more dire than at any time in recent years."

"There is a sense of greater urgency, more of a consensus than ever that this dispute must be brought to an end", he said, as the present situation in Cyprus offers no recipe for peace, security and healthy economic development in the future. "On the contrary, young people on the island are growing up under an ever-present cloud of uncertainty and potential instability", he added.

He pointed out that no one underestimates the immensity of the tasks before the two leaders, stressing that this was the time to "press forward, in a positive spirit, in search of our common goal, a viable and comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem."

He noted that the international community is confident in their ability "to craft new constitutional and institutional structures, to allow the people of both communities to live together in peace."

Annan said if the two leaders agreed with the suggestions his special advisor on the Cyprus problem Diego Cordovez would be sharing with them on his behalf, they "will be sending a strong and unmistakable signal to the international community" as to their commitment and determination to reach a comprehensive settlement, for which the people of Cyprus have been waiting for too long.

The UN Secretary-General expressed the view that "specific and concrete solutions" to fundamental aspects of the Cyprus problem, agreed upon by the two sides over the years should now be explored, without further delay, "in their proper context".

"This can be achieved only if you begin consideration of the actual documents and legal instruments that will constitute the comprehensive settlement", he said.

"I therefore propose", he added, "that you enter upon a process of negotiations, leading to the incremental construction of the juridical framework within which the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities will forge a new partnership."

Annan noted that the fact that the process will be conducted under the auspices of the UN will ensure "that the principles of the Charter will inspire all the good offices efforts of the Secretary-General, will guide all deliberations and underlie all the understandings that you will reach."

The UN Chief stressed that both sides should refrain from making any statements until this round of negotiations is over.

Also present at the opening ceremony were Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on the Cyprus problem, Diego Cordovez, Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Sir Kieran Prendergast, UN Resident Representative to Cyprus Gustave Feissel and the special representatives of various countries for Cyprus.

[02] US, Canada, Sweden and Greece welcome Cyprus talks

US State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns said the US was "delighted to see the convening of the meetings in New York between the Cypriot leaders, President Clerides and Mr. Denktash, and delighted to see that they shook hands".

"We very much wholeheartedly support the efforts of Kofi Annan, the Secretary General, to convene them. We wish that this conference might be successful and the process will be successful, and we are pledged to support it. That was what Dick Holbrooke has conveyed to Kofi Annan earlier this week".

Canada also welcomed the start of the negotiations and called on the two sides involved to cooperate fully with the UN to resolve the protracted Cyprus problem.

The Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy, in a press release issued yesterday, expressed the hope that "they will prove successful, and would result in a permanent resolution of the problem".

The press release notes that Canada's Special Representative on Cyprus, Michael Bell, is attending the opening of the talks by Kofi Annan, along with special envoys or representatives from other countries and the European Union.

It also reminds that Canada had participated in the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus for 29 years, until 1993, "and since then has demonstrated its continued interest in Cyprus, notably through the recent appointment of Mr. Bell, in April 1997."

The Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lena Hjelm-Wallen in a statement said that a political solution to the Cyprus problem is of vital interest to Sweden.

"Sweden welcomes the fact that the parties will now meet for direct talks" , the statement said, adding that "both sides must utilise this opportunity to achieve a comprehensive political resolution of the conflict."

Greece's Prime Minister, Costas Simitis, speaking at a press conference at the end of the NATO Summit in Madrid, expressed the hope that the talks in New York go well so that a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem can be found in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions.

[03] Hannay believes solution is within reach

Sir David said that after numerous contacts with those principally concerned in the Cyprus problem, he is optimistic a solution can be reached "if only the demons of history can be overcome."

"In some peace processes the protagonists rise above these pressures, in others they succumb to them," Sir David said. "In the end, the options are theirs, and there is only a limited amount that even the best-intentioned outsiders can do to help them overcome them."

Calling past settlement efforts "just about the longest running, and so far unsuccessful, peace process in modern history," Sir David said that the introduction of number of new factors could, this time, turn things around.

Sir David pointed out that after a string of failed bids to reach piecemeal agreements on specific aspects of the Cyprus problem, the current effort aims at a comprehensive settlement of all aspects, which could nevertheless present problems of its own, such as the probable duration of the negotiations.

"But in a situation where it is clear that no one will agree anything until everyone agrees everything, it is, surely, the only realistic approach," he said.

[04] OSCE should act more decisively, says Cypriot MP

Speaking at the last OSCE parliamentary assembly meeting, held in Warsaw, Makrides called for a change in the organisation's policy of dividing problems into "urgent" and "less urgent" ones.

Referring to the Cyprus problem, Makrides pointed out that in its essence it is one of invasion and occupation by an OSCE member-state against another and not of bi-communal differences between Greek and Turkish Cypriots living on the island.

He added that the presence of the Turkish occupation army in Cyprus constitutes a threat to peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The OSCE parliamentary assembly meeting, which was concluded yesterday, adopted a Cyprus-proposed amendment to the Resolution of Political Issues, which stressed that the right to self-determination should not be based or be the result of violation of the territorial integrity of another state.

[05] New Cyprus Ambassador to Japan

Emperor Akihito expressed the wish that talks currently underway in New York will lead to a solution to the Cyprus problem benefiting both communities in Cyprus.

[06] Cooperation agreements between Cyprus and Yugoslavia

Today, the Yugoslav Minister is expected to sign a similar agreement on cooperation in the fields of social security and the training of new scientists at the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance.

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

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