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Sunday, 22 December 2024
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Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 97-12-10Cyprus Press and Information Office: News Updates in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>News UpdateWednesday, 10/12/97CONTENTS[01] Greek Cypriot missing persons remembered on Human Rights dayTo mark the 49th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the co-ordinating Council of the Committees of Relatives of Missing Persons has issued a statement which calls on the world community to "assume its historic role and restore human rights throughout the globe".It also urges the UN to work in the right direction in order to persuade Turkey to cooperate in the search for those missing, since its troops invaded and occupied the island's northern part in 1974. The statement also deplores the failure to promote universal respect of human rights and the use of double standards in different countries. "The world watches speechless the selective application of human rights in areas where the interests of the powerful and served". The statement said relatives of the missing have been striving without success for the past 23 years to establish the whereabouts of their loved ones. "The fact that the issue of the missing has remained unresolved is due not only to Ankara's negative stance on the matter but also to the passive attitude of international organisations and governments which could impose compliance and respect of human rights", the statement added. There are 1619 missing Greek-Cypriot persons, since 1974 including children and old people. [02] Euro-MP urges Britain to help return Famagusta to normal lifeThe Leader of the Conservative Euro-MPs Edward McMillan-Scott has sent a letter to British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook urging him to undertake some action so that the Greek Cypriot town of Famagusta - lying as a ghost-town in the Turkish occupied area - can be returned to its rightful inhabitants.Placing this as an issue for Britain to address during its European Union presidency in 1998, Mr McMillan Scott said in his letter: "EU enlargement, a process in which Euro-MPs wish to include Turkey, gives the EU the opportunity to oversee the return of Famagusta to the bicommunal civil society both communities once enjoyed through tourism and trade". Jordan, Egypt and Israel, he noted, "have shown how it can be done on the Red Sea coast. He also said that Britain "has a moral duty and the opportunity as the EU presidency to take the lead". Famagusta, a thriving port and holiday resort of some 60,000 inhabitants before the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, is now an empty ghost-town, next to the buffer zone. Turkey, which militarily controls the town, has often threatened to colonise it with Turkish settlers. A UN Security Council resolution considers any attempt to settle any part of Varosha (Famagusta) by people other than its inhabitants as "inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the UN". 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 |
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