October 31, 1997
The UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Cyprus, Diego Cordovez, will visit Cyprus in the second half of November to examine whether the two sides are ready for open-ended talks to settle the Cyprus question.
President Clerides while in Edinburgh for the Commonwealth Summit stated that the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had sent letters to him, the Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash and the governments of Greece and Turkey on the issue.
According to Cyprus News agency (CNA), in his letter Kofi Annan said that Diego Cordovez will visit Cyprus "to see whether the two sides are willing to start open-ended talks to solve the Cyprus question."
Meanwhile upon his return to the island at the end of October, Gustave Feissel the UN Deputy Special Representative for Cyprus, said that when in New York he had some meetings on the Cyprus issue including a meeting with the Secretary-General with whom he discussed a whole range of issues. Asked about the security talks that took place in September between President Clerides and Mr. Denktash he said that "it would be very good if a modest agreement is reached on security" and added that he thought "it would send the right kind of message and of course would contain some substance".
The UN official refrained to commending on reports that the Turkish army had brought more war machines to the part of Cyprus it occupies since it invaded the island in 1974. Asked to commend on repeated statements by Mr. Denktash that he would not carry on with efforts for a Cyprus settlement unless the E.U. put Cyprus' accession talks on hold, Mr. Feissel said that "It is the expectation of the Security Council and the Secretary-General that both sides will cooperate with the Secretary-General in moving this process forward and that is what we expect to see." Cyprus' accession talks are expected to begin next Spring, according to an E.U. decision of March 6, 1995.
* PRESIDENT CLERIDES WELCOMES APPOINTMENT OF COMMONWEALTH ENVOY
President Glafcos Clerides described as "useful development" the appointment of a former Indian Foreign Minister and Deputy Secretary-General for political Affairs to the post of Commonwealth envoy on Cyprus. The appointment was announced during a press conference, on 23 October, by Chief Emeka Anyakou, Secretary General of the Commonwealth who said he took that decision "in consultation with the UN Secretary-General."
President Clerides noted that with the appointment of a Special Envoy on Cyprus, the Commonwealth will be able to closely monitor developments in Cyprus and praised the countries which supported the appointment of Kris Srinivasan, noting these included many Moslem countries.
The Cypriot President also expressed satisfaction with the reference to Cyprus in the Commonwealth final Communique adopted on 27 October.
"I am satisfied because it reconfirms UN Security Council resolutions which call for a single sovereignty and state in Cyprus, condemn the bogus state in the occupied areas and demand the withdrawal of foreign troops," the President said.
President Clerides agreed with a reference made in the Communique to Britain's special role in Cyprus. He said Britain is not only a member of the Security Council but is also one of the Republic's three guarantors, according to the 1960 agreements by which Cyprus gained independence from colonial rule.
* FAMAGUSTA MAYOR APPEALS TO UN
The Famagusta Municipality has appealed to the UN to intervene in Cyprus and safeguard the human rights and basic freedoms grossly violated by Turkey since its 1974 invasion and occupation of the northern part of the island.
The appeal was made in a telegram by refugee Famagusta Mayor, Andreas Pougiouros, to the UN Secretary-General, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and the head of the delegation of the European Commission to Cyprus.
It followed new Turkish threats to colonize the town of Varosha (Famagusta) in reply to a decision by the Government of Cyprus to purchase a new surface-to-air defense system from Russia.
In his message to the Secretary-General the Mayor says that Famagusta belongs to its lawful residents and it should be returned to them without delay, according to UN security Council resolution 550. He called on the UN to put an end to the illegal settlement of Turks on the island and dynamically intervene to stop the "law of the jungle" imposed by Turkey on the island since 1974.
A part of Famagusta has been fenced since the invasion and remains uninhabited. The Secretary-General has repeatedly said in his reports to the Council that the Turkish Government is responsible for any change of the status quo in the fenced area of the town of Varosha.
UN Security Council Resolution 550 of 1984 "considers attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the United Nations."
* CNA AND DPA TO COOPERATE IN THE FIELD OF NEWS SERVICES
The Cyprus News Agency (CNA) and the German News Agency (DPA) have expressed their readiness to cooperate in the field of news services.
The issue was discussed on 24 October in Nicosia, by CNA Director Andreas Christophides and DPA Board Chairman Walter Richtberg, who was in Cyprus on a business trip.
The two men exchanged views on the impact of news agencies using modern technology and referred to the two news agencies' plans for development and expansion. CNA and DPA agreed to examine ways and means to cooperate in the field of news services.
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