FOREIGN MINISTER AVCI EVALUATES HIS CONTACTS IN UGANDA
“THERE HAS BEEN IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS IN RELATIONS WITH THE OIC COUNTRIES”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Turgay Avcý who was in the Ugandan capital Kampala for the 35^th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) evaluated his contacts in Kampala upon his arrival at the TRNC.

In his statement, Foreign Minister Avcý said that relations which have been neglected for years have been improved with contacts and initiatives being made recently.

Explaining that within the framework of the initiatives carried out by the OIC countries, a representative office has been opened in Qatar and the studies for opening two other representative offices in Oman and Kuwait have been almost completed.

Stating that the TRNC has begun hosting the OIC meetings and events, Avcý reminded that last year in August the International Solidarity Council Meeting of Islamic Youth Solidarity Forum affiliated to the OIC was held in the TRNC and that in April this year a workshop entitled Export Auditing and Increasing the Capacity of SMEs was jointly organized by the TRNC Deputy Prime Ministry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Islamic Trade Development Center in the country.

Foreign Minister Avcý also announced that the Forum titled ‘Tourism in Islamic World’ will be held in the TRNC in October 2008 and this was included in the decision on Cyprus taken at the OIC Foreign Ministers Meeting in Kampala.

Pointing out that the representatives of Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Industry also attended the Business Forum and 12^th member states Private Sector Meeting held as part of the OIC Foreign Ministers Meeting. In the meeting ways of developing trade relations between the OIC member states and the TRNC were discussed.

Foreign Minister Avcý stated that the final communiqué of the 35^th session called on the international community, including OIC member countries, to take concrete steps towards putting an end to the international isolation imposed on the Turkish Cypriot People. Continuing, Avcý said as a result of the bi-lateral relations established between the OIC countries and the TRNC some important openings have been achieved, however although the Turkish Cypriot people were pleased with these openings, they were not sufficient for the lifting of the isolation.

Meanwhile, in the decision entitled “Situation in Cyprus” taken in the final communiqué of the meeting a call was made to take more steps for further improving the cooperation and solidarity between the TRNC and the OIC countries. The decision also envisaged the high-level contacts between the OIC member states and the TRNC to be carried out more often and improving cooperation in the fields of education, health and sports between the TRNC and the OIC member countries.

Evaluating the decision on Cyprus, Avcý said in Article 13 of the decision on the lifting of the isolation and the expression supporting the Turkish Cypriot people’s will towards a solution was very pleasing. Avcý also said the “Kampala Declaration” issued at the end of the meeting supported the negotiation process between the two sides in Cyprus leading towards a comprehensive settlement and made a call towards the lifting of the isolation.

At the end of his speech Foreign Minister Avcý thanked Motherland Turkey who gave the biggest support to the TRNC within the OIC and the OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu who defended the Turkish Cypriot people’s rights at every platform.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Avcý held bi-lateral meetings with the foreign ministers of Qatar, Albania and Senegal.

TALAT AND CHRISTOFIAS TO MEET ON THE 1^st OF JULY

President Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias will meet on the 1^st of July within the framework of  the 21^st of March agreement.

The announcement was made by the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Cyprus Taye Brook Zerihoun at a joint press briefing with senior aides of the two leaders Ozdil Nami and Yorgos Iacovou who held another meeting at the Ledra Place Hotel in the UN-controlled buffer zone on Friday (20 June).

During the press briefing, the two aides announced a list of issues on which agreement was reached by technical committees. These are educational programs towards protecting cultural heritage, road safety, reciprocal crossings of ambulances, establishing a joint health committee, education on environment and studies about wastes.

Also speaking at the joint press conference Zerihoun stated that progress has been achieved so far by working groups and technical committees established to prepare the ground for full-fledged negotiations between the two sides. Zerihoun explaining that “a package of measures for making the lives of Cypriots living in the island easier” said until now technical committees have agreed on 6 projects including environment, health, road safety and cultural heritage.