|
|
|
Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 03-04-30
From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>
[01]Wednesday, 30 April 2003 National Council issues statement
[02] Pat Cox says "extraordinary events" take place in Cyprus
[01] National Council issues statement
The National Council - the President's top advisory body on the Cyprus
issue - convened yesterday afternoon under the chairmanship of the
President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Tassos Papadopoulos, to discuss the
general policy regarding the package of measures for Turkish Cypriots,
which the Government will announce later today and implement as from next
Friday, 2 May 2003. The situation created from the partial lifting of
restrictions on the free movement of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots by
the Turkish occupation regime was also evaluated. The National Council's
assessments, as emerged from yesterday's meeting, are conveyed in a
statement issued today. The statement expresses, inter alia, the National
Council's belief that "the spontaneous, unprompted and very friendly
behaviour of Greek and Turkish Cypriots in their recent contacts and
meetings has shown in practice the undisputed possibility and sincere
desire of the two communities to live together again and cooperate in a
reunited country. The arguments of the occupation regime and Turkey that
allegedly the Greek and Turkish Cypriots cannot live together and that the
security of the two communities makes necessary the preservation of the
dividing wall are refuted and demolished as entirely baseless."
On the easing of restrictions on the free movement of Greek Cypriots and
Turkish Cypriots, the National Council reaches the assessment that "Mr
Denktash's recent decision to relax crossings, creating in this way the
impression of goodwill on his part, has been dictated by a sense of the
international and internal isolation in which he has found himself and the
pressing impasse to which he has led himself through his provocative and
unacceptable behaviour." The statement further stresses that "this specific
action of the occupation regime does not constitute a sincere political
will on behalf of the Turkish side for a solution to the Cyprus problem. On
the contrary, it is an attempt to bypass the procedures and the framework
of the United Nations and is an attempt to present the pseudo-state as a
separate and sovereign state. The Turkish side has always been the only
obstacle to a solution to the Cyprus problem, the side which rejects
negotiations on the Annan Plan and does not display the necessary political
will that will allow the UN Secretary-General to resume his efforts for a
solution to the Cyprus problem. The opening of the roadblocks is not the
solution to the Cyprus problem. The seeming cracks in the wall of division
do not mean the abolition of the dividing line imposed and maintained by
Turkish troops by the force of arms." "The National Council calls on the
Turkish side to return the Famagusta area to its legitimate inhabitants as
provided for in the relevant UN resolutions, to implement the Third Vienna
agreement regarding the enclaved, to cooperate effectively in ascertaining
the fate of the missing persons, as agreed in July 1997, and to commit
itself to the final withdrawal of the occupation troops and the demilitarization
of Cyprus", the statement also reads, adding that the National Council is
expecting the reply of the Turkish side. At the same time, it reiterates
the Greek Cypriot side's "willingness and readiness to engage in immediate
and substantive negotiations on the basis of the Annan plan in order to
find a solution in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions, as asked by
the President of the Republic in his letter of 2 April 2003 to the Turkish
Cypriot leader."
[02] Pat Cox says "extraordinary events" take place in Cyprus
The President of the European Parliament (EP), Mr Pat Cox, has described
the crossings of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots across the ceasefire
line on the island, following the partial lifting of restrictions on free
movement by the occupation regime, as "extraordinary events" that are
"tantamount to a people's revolution". Mr Cox was speaking at the meeting
of the President of the European Parliament and the Presidents of
Parliaments of the Accession and Candidate States in Brussels yesterday,
during which the latest developments regarding the crossings in Cyprus were
discussed. The EP President said that he took a "great sense of inspiration
from the people's leadership that we are currently witnessing in Cyprus".
"The people have spoken loud enough to be heard in Brussels, and I hope, in
other centres of authority. The people want a settlement and the people
want a settlement now. I hope that the political class can find the wisdom
and the serenity to meet the people's aspirations", Mr Cox added.
From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO)
|
