[01] Denktash on the Greek Cypriot elections.

[02] Denktash claims US is a hostage of Greek lobby.

[03] "Child and Peace" Festival in the occupied area.

[04] New "Stamps" by the pseudostate.

NEWS ITEMS

[01] Denktash on the Greek Cypriot elections

Denktash was replying to a press question during a meeting with officials of the "Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association." He claimed: "What good can these leaders do if they even lie to the families of the people who are known to have been killed during the 1974 Greek coup. These leaders tell the families that the victims have been missing ever since Turkey came to the island. I do not expect that persons who mislead people in this way can lead Cyprus to peace. The path they pursue is a bad one that can lead to war."

[02] Denktash claims US is a hostage of Greek lobby

The article, "Where we stand", is a response to the latest remarks by US officials indicating that the Clinton administration has changed its traditional approach that searching for a bi-zonal and bi-communal federal solution on Cyprus was a prerequisite for the island's accession to EU membership.

According to a statement by Nicholas Burns, the State Department spokesman, Washington would support the Greek Cypriot EU bid even if a federal solution on Cyprus could not be attained. "The US administration has been a hostage of the Greek lobby since 1963," Denktash claimed.

In his article, Denktash inter alia claims: "The Cyprus problem can only be settled by the two peoples of Cyprus. Prescriptions from outside have not cured the `illness' because there has been no diagnosis of it by impartial outsiders. The US administration is a hostage to the Greek lobby and from the beginning of the conflict in December, 1963, the US government has tried to settle the problem to the satisfaction of this lobby."

As regards EU membership Denktash claims that once that is achieved "they (the Greek Cypriots) will have succeeded in their `national aim', which means the subjugation of Turkish Cypriot people and denial of their vested rights as a political body equal in all respects to the Greek Cypriot community."

"We stand by the formula of the UN Secretary-General that Cyprus' accession to the EU will be tackled by the two communities after a settlement and through the separate referendums of the two sides. We do not intend to deviate from the formula of the UN Secretary-General to the effect that the Treaties of Guarantee and Alliance should continue to be in full effect, and we do not accept any formula which will weaken our security. These agreements are the foundations on which a new experiment in coexistence can be made. Without these guarantees (which saved us from utter destruction) there can be no experiment in coexistence!", he says.

All these facts are being conveyed to all diplomats, especially to the representatives of the United States and Britain Denktash writes.

And further on he alleges: "The refusal to understand Greek Cypriot policy is deliberate. The prescription of Mr. Burns is also deliberately prepared not for curing the ills of Cyprus but for keeping the Greek lobby happy until the elections. We reject this prescription and we deplore this approach, which made Greek Cypriot church bells chime until the morning hours...

The Cyprus problem cannot be settled without honouring the rule of law and without treating both sides as political equals. This problem cannot be solved if it is forgotten that there is no Cypriot nation and that the 1960 agreements had brought about a bi-communal partnership state protected against the Greek Cypriot drive and historical aspiration for Hellenization of the island by adequate guarantees.

EU membership has blocked the process of inter-communal talks, and if EU membership is not put on ice and the Greek Cypriot leadership told to give priority to intercommunal talks then we shall have to take the only alternative left to us - and that is full integration with Turkey.

[03] "Child and Peace" Festival in the occupied area

Groups from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine and Turkey will take part in the festival.

The opening night will take place at the Mare Monte hotel in occupied Kyrenia. (A.TH/EF)

[04] New "Stamps" by the pseudostate