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Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 03-04-18
From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>
[01]Friday, 18 April 2003 Annan says political will necessary for new peace
initiative in Cyprus
[02] "Three types of measures for T/C to be announced", says President
[03] Powell: Washington remains firmly commitment to Cyprus settlement
[04] Law Office statement on 'Financial Times' report
[01] Annan says political will necessary for new peace initiative in
Cyprus
The UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, made reference to Cyprus during
his statement at the informal EU Summit in Athens yesterday, expressing his
disappointment that Cyprus was joining the EU as a still divided island.
On his latest intensive peace efforts in Cyprus, the Secretary-General
noted, "I believe the plan that I put forward is fair and balanced, and
should still serve as the basis for an eventual settlement of that
conflict. A unique opportunity was missed but I do not doubt that there
will eventually be a settlement. All that is lacking is the necessary
political will." Commenting on the aforementioned statement by Mr Annan,
the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Tassos Papadopoulos, noted that
the Secretary-General knew 'first-hand' that the Greek Cypriot side had
shown the necessary political will in The Hague, adding that Mr Annan was
making the same assessment in his report to the Security Council. President
Papadopoulos further said that pressure should be exerted on those who
undermined the peace process in The Hague, pointing out that vague and
unclear statements were not helping the efforts for reaching a settlement.
"Our position is that the Annan Plan entails positive points, and that with
substantive negotiations and necessary additions and amendments primarily
relating to the functionality and viability of the Plan - as I have stated
in written on 28 February 2003 - it can lead to a solution of the Cyprus
problem", Mr Papadopoulos said.
[02] "Three types of measures for T/C to be announced", says President
"The Cyprus Government is already examining a series of measures, not
measures for a solution but until a solution arrives, so that we can
support Turkish Cypriots and give out the message that there is hope for
them to be able to share the commodities and benefits from Cyprus'
accession", President Tassos Papadopoulos noted during a press conference
yesterday in Athens, after the conclusion of the informal EU Summit where
Cyprus, along with the other nine acceding countries, signed the Treaty of
Accession to the European Union. President Papadopoulos explained that the
measures could be categorised into three types. The first type involved
measures that the Cyprus Government would take irrespective of the Turkish
Cypriot leader, Mr Rauf Denktash, and those would be announced once they
were ready for implementation. The other type of measures would require
approval by the European Union, and for that reason the Government was
holding official talks with EU representatives to the island. The third
type, Mr Papadopoulos noted, was the most significant and required the
collaboration of Turkish Cypriots and Mr Denktash in particular. These were
measures on issues of employment, pension schemes and other social
insurance benefits, and Mr Denktash's consent was necessary, unless Turkish
Cypriots would decide to overstep their leader and claim the measures on
their own. The Cyprus President expressed hope that the measures could be
announced within ten days, after consultation with the European Commission
to ensure that they were in compliance with the acquis communautaire. He
added that Turkish Cypriot political parties would also be consulted,
albeit their approval of the measures was not a condition.
Asked by journalist to say whether he feared that the measures would cause
a "provocative" reaction by the Turkish Cypriot leadership, President
Papadopoulos replied that Mr Denktash needed Turkey's consent to take any
"provocative" action, and if Turkey was to give its consent it would
seriously harm its EU accession course. Mr Papadopoulos further said that
the 16th of April "is not a victory for us and a defeat of Mr Denktash, but
it is a victory for all the people of Cyprus". He also expressed his
sadness that Turkish Cypriots could not join in the joy of singing the
Accession Treaty, and reiterated the position that "it is to the benefit of
the entire Cyprus people that Turkish Cypriots should join us in prosperity,
peace and democracy."
[03] Powell: Washington remains firmly commitment to Cyprus settlement
The US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, said that the United States
remained "firmly committed" to working with the EU and others to find a
just and durable settlement for Cyprus. Speaking at a reception given by
the Greek Embassy in Washington D.C., last Wednesday, to celebrate the
signing of the Treaty of Accession of the EU by ten new members, Mr Powell
pointed out that "even as Europe unites, and works with us for peace and
reconciliation across the globe, all of us are aware that one of the
European Union's new members remains divided." He further said that the US
continued to be a strong proponent of the EU's further expansion, and
welcomed the EU's goal of membership for Romania and Bulgaria in 2007 as
well as its decision to begin accession negotiations with Turkey "if in
December 2004 the European Council decides that Turkey has fulfilled the
Copenhagen criteria". Mr Powell then urged Turkey to meet the Copenhagen
criteria, so that European leaders could implement their "visionary
decision…to build a truly inclusive European Union".
[04] Law Office statement on 'Financial Times' report
Regarding a report published in the ''Financial Times'' newspaper, on
15/4/2003, under the title ''Greek Cypriot Leader's Law firm linked to
funding web for Milosevic'', the Law Office of the Republic of Cyprus
wishes to clarify the following: The said report is full of inaccuracies
and allegations which do not reflect the true facts.
As regards the interrogation ordered by the Attorney General in connection
with the allegations made by Mrs Radencovic and Mrs Budisin referred to in
the report, a Request was sent to the Yugoslav authorities, through the
diplomatic channel, asking inter alia, for permission for a Police
interrogator and a Counsel of the Republic to visit Belgrade in order to
take depositions from the above persons, as well as others, for the ongoing
interrogation purposes. Despite repeated efforts and reminders sent,
through the competent Ministry and Interpol, we have not yet received any
reply to the said request. Furthermore, the report fully ignores, once
again, the role played by many other countries in the whole financial
system used by the then Yugoslav regime during the period of the ''embargo''
against the country, some of which seem to have been supplying the regime
with military equipment as mentioned in the ''Torkildsen'' Report quoted by
the journalist. Moreover, the allegation that Mrs Carla Del Ponte of the
International Criminal Court for former Yugoslavia has not been given
documents relating to specific companies is untrue. All relevant documents
were received by the Court's interrogators during their visit to Cyprus in
June 2002 and for this specific cooperation we had received a letter of
thanks from the said interrogators. The author of the news report had
visited Cyprus and met with competent officials, including the Attorney
General. Our cooperation with the International Court for former Yugoslavia
had been explained to her. We express our regret for the said news report,
the expediency of which raises questions and ultimately harms the Republic
of Cyprus.
From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/
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