Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 01-03-23

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

Friday, 23 March 2001

CONTENTS

• [01] Foreign Minister comments on UN human rights report
• [02] US Congressman Gilman: its time to settle the Cyprus problem

[01] Foreign Minister comments on UN human rights report

The report, dated 20 February 2001, fails to present an accurate picture of the human rights violations in Cyprus by Turkey, omits any reference to the Government of Cyprus and equates the illegal Turkish occupation regime with the Government of Cyprus.

Speaking to the press after a meeting of the Council of Ministers, Mr Kasoulides said that since the issue of the report, the Cyprus Government has protested in Nicosia and at the UN seat. He also had telephone conversations with the Secretary General's Special Adviser on Cyprus Mr Alvaro de Soto and the Ambassadors of the five Permanent Members of the Security Council.

Mr Kasoulides said that the UN Security Council members, having studied the report, have agreed that the Cyprus Government is rightly protesting against the attempt in the report to equate the legal Government of the Republic of Cyprus with the Turkish Cypriot occupation regime. Following a series of deliberations, the UN is expected to issue a second report on the question of human rights in Cyprus to rectify the original one, Mr Kasoulides added.

The Government expects that in the corrected report the reference to the "Greek Cypriot authorities" will be replaced by "the Government of Cyprus". The reference to "the south" with respect to the assistance sent from the government via the UN to the enclaved Greek Cypriots will be replaced by the word "Government". Moreover, the reference to the Turkish claim that bicommunal contacts are irrelevant due to the embargoes imposed by the Greek Cypriot authorities should be in inverted commas.

Mr Kasoulides underlined that the Secretary General's report does not respond to the content of resolution 50/1987 of the UN Commission on Human Rights, which requests a report on the situation of human rights of the people of Cyprus, the refugees, the demographic composition, the fundamental freedoms etc. The Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Ministry Mr Michalis Attalides would address the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva to outline the government's views on the issue, he said.

Mr Kasoulides also said that the Director of the Secretary General's office has already apologized to Cyprus' Permanent Representative at the UN "for what the Secretariat considers editorial errors which found their way into the report."

[02] US Congressman Gilman: its time to settle the Cyprus problem

Mr Gilman noted two important events in the days ahead, namely "the eventual accession of Cyprus to the European Union" and "the largest expansion of the EU". Cyprus is about to become a member of the EU he said, adding that these two events will enhance Greece's ability to induce the EU partners to take its needs and the needs of Cyprus much more seriously than they have in the past.

"I am going to be asking Secretary Powel and President Bush to continue to give this a high priority and both have indicated that they want to do that. I know that our State Department is engaged and it is putting its best people to that task, he said.

He stressed that the current impasse in the UN-led sponsored talks is not due to the lack of attention and desire on the part of the State Department but due to the intransigence of the Turkish Cypriots, who have decided to leave the UN talks in November. "Since then, we are still trying to urge them to return to the table" he said.

Mr Gilman underlined that the Turks ought to express their concerns about the Secretary General's remarks within the negotiations rather than suspending and putting on hold what was a meaningful and long lasting negotiating process. He also expressed the hope that the Turks can be convinced to come back to the negotiating table.

He noted Secretary Powell's promise during his confirmation hearings that he would support the UN process and the efforts to get the Cyprus negotiations going and added: "The Turks are getting a consistent message that they have to find a way out of this current impasse. It is now up to the Turkish side to find a way forward, find a way to move things along. The ball is in their court".

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

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