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Under
the leadership of the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, the third day of
negotiations between the two sides in
Cyprus
lasted for 12 hours, with the Secretary-General carrying out shuttle
diplomacy between the two leaders. The tripartite meeting between the UN
Secretary-General, TRNC President Rauf Denktas and Greek Cypriot leader,
Tassos Papadopoulos, began at 00:10
Cyprus
time and they were later joined by the Turkish and Greek delegations. The UN
Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
Cyprus
, Alvaro
de Soto
, carried out shuttle diplomacy in four separate rooms. President Denktas
said that the Greek Cypriots were continuing with their objections,
therefore, negotiations would be continuing today (February 13).
Meanwhile,
leaving the meeting for a short while, the UN Secretary-General’s
Political Assistant, Kieran Pendergast, referring to the meeting between the
Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides and the Greek and Turkish delegations, said,
the parties would remain at the negotiating table until a conclusion was
reached.
Speaking
to the press at the Millennium Hotel in
New York
before entering the third meeting, President Denktas, pointing out that he
didn’t think the Greek Cypriot side would reject the Turkish side’s
proposals, said, if they reject it, it would be to their disadvantage and
they may even come with their own proposal.
Referring
to the Annan Plan, President Denktas said the Plan had an important article,
which states that if the two sides cannot agree on a certain point, then the
Plan would remain as it is. He said this was unacceptable for the two sides
and was a problem that the Secretary-General had to overcome for the
continuation of the negotiations. He added that the Secretary-General had
requested the sides’ opinions on the issue.
The
President explained that at this stage the Turkish Cypriot side proposed a
formula supported by
Turkey
and which is also accepted and appreciated by the Secretary-General. He said
the ball is now in the Greek Cypriot side and if our proposal, which is also
supported by the Secretary-General, is positively evaluated by the Greek
Cypriot side the negotiation process will start. “If our sincere and
positive approach is also welcomed by the Greek Cypriot side, the process to
find a lasting and viable settlement will start”, said President Denktas.
Referring
to the Turkish Cypriot side’s proposal, the Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Serdar Denktas, said it was in three stages and
was aimed at overcoming the obstructions and was not contrary to the
philosophy of the Annan Plan.
Meanwhile,
the UN Spokesman, Fred Eckhard, said the Secretary-General’s proposal on
the
Cyprus
issue was that he would fill in the gaps if the two sides could not agree.
EUOPEAN
COUNCIL REPORT ON “HUMAN RIGHTS IN
CYPRUS
”
In
a report prepared by Alvaro Gil-Robles, the European Council’s Human
Rights Commissioner, entitled “Human Rights In Cyprus”, the Greek
Cypriot side was criticized for its judiciary system, the condition of its
prisons, the conduct of Greek Cypriot police, its military service, the
status of foreigners and the treatment of persons suffering from mental
disorder and requested that deficiencies on these issues be overcome.
Expressing
his dissatisfaction about the unfavourable conditions for foreign prisoners
in Greek Cypriot prisons, Alvaro Gil-Robles said it was worrying that
private individuals were imprisoned for not paying their debts.
Stressing
that the Greek Cypriot side did not have a serious policy on refugees, in
his report Alvaro Gil Robles said, from the point of view of working
conditions, refugees were faced with the risk of severe discrimination.
Criticizing
the conduct of Greek Cypriot police against prisoners in Greek Cypriot
prisons, the report said allegations of beatings, giving electrical shocks,
death threats and the mistreatment of prisoners was extremely worrying.
Referring
to the Greek Cypriot Administration’s proposed alternative of working in
the public sector for 42 months to those who do not want to do their
military service because of their beliefs, the report strongly criticized
this alternative and requested that this practice be changed.
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WHAT
WE WANT? - Rauf R. Denktaþ,
2 December 2003
FULL
TEXT OF SPEECH MADE BY THE PRIME MINISTER OF TURKEY, RECEP TAYYIP ERDOÐAN,
IN NORTHERN CYPRUS ON THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PROCLAMATION OF THE
TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTHERN CYPRUS
ERTUGRULOGLU CALLS UPON GREEK
CYPRIOTS: "AS LONG AS YOU DON’T ACCEPT TURKISH CYPRIOTS AS EQUALS,
UNPLEASANTNESS BETWEEN US WILL CONTINUE"
SPEECH
GIVEN BY TURKISH PRIME MINISTER MR. RECEP TAYYIP ERDOÐAN, DURING THE
CELEBTRATIONS OF TRNC'S 20TH ANNIVERSARY (15.11.2003)
PRESS
RELEASE FROM TRNC'S REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE IN NEW YORK ABOUT THE GREEK
CYPRIOT IMPRISONMENT, FINING AND DEPORTATION OF FOUR FOREIGN STUDENTS
STUDYING IN TRNC UNIVERSITIES.
SERIES
OF ARTICLES AND PHOTOGRAPHS SHOWING THE PRESENT CONDITION OF TURKISH CYPRIOT
VILLAGES IN SOUTH CYPRUS
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