Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 97-09-18

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

News Update

Thursday, 18/09/97

CONTENTS

• [01] Security issues cover a broad spectrum of issues
• [02] IPU says Cyprus should be demilitarised and Turkish troops withdrawn
• [03] EU recognises only one government in Cyprus

[01] Security issues cover a broad spectrum of issues

"There will be a dialogue without an agenda and without any preconditions", he said. "Each side can raise any issue relating to security that concern it".

Demilitarisation, he added, was a basic aspect which could be raised and Mr Denktash may put forward a demand for a non-aggression pact.

The Spokesman added that the security talks will be held in the presence of only the UN's Resident Representative in Cyprus, Gustave Feissel. "There will be no advisers in the room and Feissel is not expected to submit any proposals", he added.

He said, moreover, that the security talks aimed to end a protracted period of threats and war talk, to improve the climate and thus help pave the way for talks on the substance of the problem.

President Clerides yesterday told Mr Feissel he was ready to meet Mr Denktash the soonest possible - even before he leaves for New York to address the UN General Assembly.

Feissel later told reporters he hoped the meeting would take place soon. "There are some useful things to be done as a first step which will help to set the scene and to create the right climate and send the right message," he said.

An announcement of the start of talks had been expected yesterday, after Mr Feissel's planned meeting with Mr Denktash.

But Mr Denktash was then reported to have been taken ill and was cancelling all his meetings for the next four days.

In Washington, the US State Department Spokesman, James Rubin, said yesterday that "security issues means everything from stepping back from the Green line, trying to improve confidence-building measures across the Green line, to ultimately any of the issues that fall under the rubric of security".

Mr Rubin, who was being asked to clarify what US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright meant by security issues between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and whether she means full demilitarisation, stressed, however, that while the word "security" leaves a lot of room for discussion, he believed that the target for these discussions would tend to be in the area of confidence-building measures.

[02] IPU says Cyprus should be demilitarised and Turkish troops withdrawn

In a report and recommendations issued at the end of the 98th Inter- Parliamentary Conference held in Cairo from 11-16 September, the committee monitoring the situation in Cyprus called on Turkey to abide by UN and IPU resolutions demanding the withdrawal of its troops from Cyprus and to refrain from upgrading its military presence there.

The Committee also says that the fact that the two leaders have agreed to hold another meeting in Cyprus on humanitarian issues shows that the two leaders remain committed to achieving a political settlement, a prospect the committee welcomes.

"Advances on humanitarian issues are keys to progress in the Cyprus issue", it says, which even if limited "are essential for generating mutual confidence and progress on those issues where a considerable gap persists between the positions of both sides".

It calls on the EU to co-operate closely with the UN Secretary-General and to invite all Parliaments from EU member states and the European Parliament to do their utmost to encourage, facilitate and support such co-operation and to make a similar call with regard to all mediators in the Cyprus issue.

In addition it encourages political parties to pursue and develop their practice of holding joint meetings, at regular and short intervals, and consistently support through them the efforts of the two leaders in their search for a negotiated settlement.

Finally it recalls that the only framework for the settlement of the Cyprus issue is that defined by the United Nations, namely a State of Cyprus with a single sovereignty and international personality and a single citizenship, with its independence and territorial integrity safeguarded.

[03] EU recognises only one government in Cyprus

This was stated by the President of the EU Council of Ministers, Deputy Foreign Minister of Luxembourg Mr Wohlfart in reply to a question by Greek EuroMP Mr A Alavanou.

Mr Wohlfart also stressed that the EU has two aims regarding Cyprus, on the one hand the solution of the Cyprus problem in accordance with UN resolutions and on the basis of a bicommunal, bizonal federation and on the other Cyprus' entry into the EU.

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

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