Cyprus News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-07-22

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From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>

CONTENTS

[01] Cyprus Stock Exchange

[02] EU envoy - Cyprus EU Chief Negotiator

[03] Cyprus - US officials

[04] Cyprus National Council

[05] EU envoy - Greek Cypriot business people

[06] Defence Minister - Violations

[07] EU envoy - Cyprus problem

[08] Greek Premier - National Guard chief

1425:CYPPRESS:01

[01] Cyprus Stock Exchange

   CSE General Index                          84.59 (-0.24)

   Traded Value            CYP  1,098,157

   Sectural Indices

   Banks                   CYP   569,098      99.19 (-0.39)
   Approved Investment
   Companies               CYP    25,293      59.58 (-0.42)
   Insurance Companies     CYP   205,327      59.15 ( 1.11)
   Manufacturing Companies CYP    21,756      76.75 (-1.01)
   Tourism Companies       CYP   133,152      71.48 ( 1.75)
   Trading Companies       CYP    37,283      41.78 (-0.90)
   Other Companies         CYP    29,674      71.29 (-0.64)

CNA AP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1430:CYPPRESS:02

[02] EU envoy - Cyprus EU Chief Negotiator

Sir David said he had "a very useful and wide ranging discussion" with Vassiliou.

The British diplomat pointed out that he had been talking to the former President both as the representative of the Austrian presidency of the EU but also as Britain's envoy on Cyprus.

However, he said he did not wish to go into the subject matter of their discussions.

Vassiliou said they examined the various aspects of Cyprus' application to join the EU as well as the prospects of starting the negotiations during the Austrian presidency.

"There was a sincere exchange of views", Vassiliou said, adding that "work continues".

Referring to President Glafcos Clerides' proposal to the Turkish Cypriot side to join the Cyprus negotiating team, which was rejected by Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, Vassiliou said "you cannot negotiate or discuss what participation means and how it will be, when the other is unwilling to negotiate."

He said President Clerides' view that the Turkish side should state whether it is ready to take part and if it has any demands, to submit them for discussion, is correct.

Vassiliou added that when Turkish Cypriots decide to join the talks, "then we hope that ways will be found to handle the other issues".

The proposal was submitted to the Turkish Cypriot side in March and was described by the EU as generous and fair.

Cyprus, which has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37 per cent of its territory, opened accession negotiations with the EU in March 1998. It applied for EU membership in July 1990.

CNA EC/GP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1440:CYPPRESS:03

[03] Cyprus - US officials

"With their presence they give the illegal regime a legal backing and they are acting contrary to the spirit of Security Council and US Congress resolutions," Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides said today.

Stylianides was commenting on statements by State Department spokesman James Rubin that the unofficial presence of US embassy employees at celebrations by the illegal Turkish Cypriot regime, marking 24 years since the Turkish invasion, "is in no way an endorsement of the event".

"It is positive that Mr. Rubin officially stated that there was no official American participation in these events," the Cypriot Spokesman added.

He called on the US government to examine this issue, because "even in their personal capacity the employees give a legal backing to some acts".

The illegal regime in the occupied areas of Cyprus, unilaterally established in 1983 and recognised only by Turkey, held a series of events over the weekend and on Monday, to mark the 24th anniversary of the July 20, 1974 Turkish invasion and occupation of 37 per cent of the island's territory.

Numerous UN resolutions call for the withdrawal of the Turkish occupation troops from Cyprus and urge all states not to recongnise or facilitate the secessionist entity in the occupied areas of Cyprus in any way.

CNA KN/MA/GP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1450:CYPPRESS:04

[04] Cyprus National Council

Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides said President Glafcos Clerides and Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides would brief the National Council on their meetings with European Union Austrian presidency envoy on Cyprus, Sir David Hannay, yesterday, and the US State Department Special Coordinator for Cyprus, Thomas Miller, who arrives here tomorrow.

The Spokesman said the National Council would also discuss a proposal by Socialist EDEK party leader Vassos Lyssarides to turn the National Council into a National Policy Council.

CNA KN/AP/GP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1530 :CYPPRESS:05

[05] EU envoy - Greek Cypriot business people

Dinos Lordos, who heads a group of Greek Cypriot business people actively involved in bicommunal efforts, told reporters that Greek and Turkish business people could not communicate in Cyprus, despite the installation of direct telephone lines last May.

"One day the lines work, the other they don't", said Lordos, noting that the lines are being tampered with.

Lordos pledged that the Greek Cypriot group would continue efforts to secure the smooth operation of the telephone lines.

US Presidential Emissary for Cyprus, Richard Holbrooke, during a ceremony on May 4, inaugurated the system which cost 80.000 US dollars and was funded by the US through the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Speaking after a meeting with the representative of the Austrian Presidency of the European Union on Cyprus, British envoy, Sir David Hannay, Lordos said they "unanimously agreed that our efforts continuously run into the complete refusal of Denktash... to allow Turkish Cypriots meet with us".

"However hard we intensify our efforts for a simple, human, daily bicommunal dialogue, the obstacles keep rising", he added.

Lordos said that Sir David as well as other officials do not see any ways in which Denktash's intransigence can be overcome. "In my view, this is an international disgrace", Lordos stressed.

"We cannot allow room for Denktash's decisions, which are inhuman and unprecedented, to be implemented", he added.

Lordos further said that decisions taken in Oslo earlier this month, between businessmen from Greece, Turkey and both communities on the island on ways to increase business cultural and sports contacts, would be implemented because "we remain determined and willing."

He expressed the hope that a scheduled meeting in Constantinople (Istanbul) in mid November would take place.

Referring to the group's meeting with Sir David, Lordos said the British diplomat had asked to meet the Greek Cypriots to become informed about their bicommunal activities.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37 percent of the island's territory.

Last December, Denktash banned all further bicommunal contacts on the island in reaction to a EU refusal to invite Turkey to join countries eligible to start accession talks.

Since then, Turkish Cypriots have been kept from bicommunal events in Cyprus.

CNA EC/GP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1620:CYPPRESS:06

[06] Defence Minister - Violations

Omirou was commenting on statements by State Department spokesman James Rubin that, as far as he knew, Turkish combat aircraft did not overfly Nicosia during the celebrations in the Turkish-occupied areas of the island, to mark 24 years since Turkey invaded and occupied 37 per cent of Cyprus' territory.

Rubin said Cessnas and helicopters may have overflown Nicosia and a Turkish Air Force acrobatics team staged an air show.

"It is not necessary for me to confirm. All the people of Cyprus saw the planes as they were visible with a bare eye," the Defence Minister said.

He expressed the view that "there should be more caution when statements on such issues are being made."

Omirou said the Foreign Ministry makes representations and protests every violation of Cyprus' national space and will do so in this case.

According to the Turkish Cypriot press six Turkish navy vessels, two of them submarines, and ten NF-5 military aircraft had come to the Turkish- occupied areas of Cyprus, during events held to mark the 24th anniversary of the Turkish invasion.

Turkish troops invaded the island on 20 July 1974 and continue to occupy 37 per cent of its territory.

The Cyprus Republic often protests to the UN over the violations of Cyprus' airspace and the Nicosia Flight Information Region by Turkish military aircraft.

CNA DP/MA/AP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1700:CYPPRESS:07

[07] EU envoy - Cyprus problem

Sir David Hannay, EU Austrian presidency envoy and Britain's Special Representative for Cyprus, told a press conference before his departure later today, the aim is to achieve the resumption of the intercommunal dialogue.

He noted that his talks have taken the issues he discussed further and said negotiations between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides can resume with completely contradictory views, stressing that such talks will be on a UN basis.

He also expressed Britain's backing for a moratorium of overflights of Greek and Turkish warplanes in Cyprus and indicated his country's readiness to monitor such an agreement.

The British diplomat does not think, however, that outside guarantees can be very practical in the case of Cyprus, a position maintained by the government of Cyprus.

He said after intensive talks it "has not proved possible to restart the UN process, which has been in an impasse," but added that his discussions have taken him further on the topics he focused on.

"We intend to work on these issues very systematically, very carefully and very hard in the months ahead and pursue a number of chapters," Hannay said.

The UN peace process, the various aspects of Cyprus' EU membership talks and security matters, including government plans to deploy anti- aircraft missiles, were at the core of the EU envoy's discussions.

Dismissing suggestions that he is here to ask concessions from the Greek Cypriot side, Hannay made it clear that he is not seeking ways to change the framework of the UN talks, a precondition the Turkish Cypriot side sets out to return to the negotiating table.

"It is not my assessment that the basis of talks is leading nowhere, the framework laid down by Security Council is there and I am not seeking to move away from that," he said.

Referring to Turkish Cypriot demands to have inter-state talks instead of bicommunal talks, the British diplomat said "you do not have to have a unified view as to status before you start. Indeed, you can start negotiations stating completely contradictory views."

If talks are successful, he explained, then the status problems are resolved by what is agreed by the two sides and if no agreement is reached, then one goes back to discordant views of each as to the status of the other.

Commenting on London's role in the peace effort, he said Britain is in constant touch with the two guarantor powers (Greece and Turkey) of Cyprus' independence and territorial integrity, but does not wish "to play an individual, separate role in this."

Asked if he brought to the government a message from British Premier, Tony Blair, on the deployment of the Russian-made S-300 missile system, Sir David stopped short of confirming this, saying that he would not comment on the substance of his talks, "even if others do."

The missiles, he pointed out, "are not the sole cause of tension" and was critical of plans to deploy the missiles.

He gave his backing to President Glafcos Clerides' proposal for the demilitarisation of Cyprus, describing it as "extremely serious" and added "we think an approach which starts with some part of these proposals may be a useful one."

In particular, he said he would like to see ideas such as withdrawal of military posts near the demarcation line, avoidance of live ammunition along the UN-controlled buffer zone and a new code of conduct in the area being applied.

"We would like to see that processed as quickly as possible, we do not think it should be an all or nothing approach. The first thing to do is to stop level of armaments and military presence on the island rising, before you can start to reduce it you have to stop it rising," he explained.

Some of these aspects, he said, may only be possible to achieve in the context of a comprehensive settlement.

Asked if the presence of Turkish occupation troops in Cyprus' northern areas is not a cause of tension, Hannay refrained from commenting, but did refer to UN Security Council resolutions stating that "a lower level of armaments and lower level of troops is absolutely vital for the solution of the Cyprus problem."

That is not easy to achieve, he acknowledged. Outlining Britain's position on the idea of a moratorium of overflights, he said "the British government believes that some moratorium on military overflights could very well contribute to that (reducing tension)."

"We would be prepared to support that if it makes a useful contribution and we think it probably would. We support that idea, it needs a lot of fleshing out, one has to be clear what one is talking about, but that is one of the more hopeful areas for consideration in this security field," Sir David added.

He admitted that Turkish planes fly for years "in the absence of a moratorium," noting that if it existed, there would be a "completely different situation than the situation we have now."

Hannay did not share the government view that outside powers should guarantee the enforcement of a moratorium.

"I do not think the proposition that some outside power should guarantee (moratorium) is very practical, but the international community can lend a very strong support to such an approach," he said.

Asked if Britain's two military bases in Cyprus could monitor a moratorium, he said Britain "can give every help we can that is practical for us to give and so long as it is welcome to those involved in the moratorium."

Sir David, whose term in office as EU presidency envoy runs out at the end of the year, said he is not a mediator but backs the UN effort to get a peace process started.

The British diplomat said the refusal of Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash to see him does not limit his ability to do his job, but restricts Denktash's influence on countries vital to the future of Cyprus.

CNA MM/AP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1930:CYPPRESS:08

[08] Greek Premier - National Guard chief

According to the Cyprus radio the meeting focused on the latest developments on the Cyprus problem and the Cyprus government's purchase of the Russian-made S-300 surface-to-air missile system.

It added that Demou briefed the Greek Premier on the military leadership's assessment of the latest developments in the Cyprus question.

However, the Athens News Agency reported that the National Guard chief described the 50-minute meeting as "a courtesy call" and said they did not discuss current military issues.

Demou is expected to meet tomorrow with Greek Defence Minister, Akis Tsohatzopoulos, the Chief of Staff of the Greek armed forces and the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Meanwhile, the Greek Premier is expected to chair a meeting tonight with the heads of the Foreign and Defence Ministries and the military leadership.

CNA MA/AP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

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