ÖZGÜRGÜN: “AFTER JULY 1, WE WILL BE TAKING A RADICAL APPROACH”

Upon the claims related to Maras Foreign Minister Ozgurgun stated that a radical approach will be taken after July 1.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail newspaper which is being published in south Cyprus Ozgurgun said: “I do not want to be specific, but after July 1 we will be taking a radical approach; all kinds of new measures can be expected. The radical approach will be implemented if ongoing negotiations bore no fruit before the South Cyprus takes on the presidency of the EU on July 1.”

ÖZERSAY AND YAKOVU MET

A critical and intense week awaits the Cyprus talks as the UN Special Adviser for Cyprus Alexander Downer prepares to submit a progress report to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Friday. Ahead of the next leaders’ meeting, special representatives of the two leaders came together yesterday to resume their discussions on the thorny chapter of property.

The President’s Special Representative Kudret Özersay and the Greek Cypriot Special Representative Yorgos Yakovu met yesterday afternoon to seek ways of reaching convergences on the Property issue, ahead of Thursday’s meeting of the two leaders.

President DerviÅŸ EroÄŸlu and the Greek Cypriot Leader Dimitris Christofias are scheduled to meet on Thursday the 29th of March.

EroÄŸlu and Christofias will try to finalize the Property chapter at the meeting.
On the same day, the UN Special Adviser Downer will also be briefing the UN Security Council over the course of the Cyprus talks- just a day before he hands in the progress report to Ban.

PRESIDENT EROGLU RECEIVED KYRGYZ VICE-SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT

The Kyrgyz Vice-Speaker of Parliament Talant Mınbatov and two Kyrgyz deputies are holding a series of contacts in the TRNC. They were received by the TRNC state heads yesterday. The improvement of bilateral relations was discussed at the meetings.

Receiving the high level Kyrgyz delegation, President DerviÅŸ EroÄŸlu pointed out that the Cyprus Turks have always applauded the independence of states established after the Soviet Union collapsed.

EroÄŸlu expressed the hope that bilateral relations between the TRNC and Kyrgyzstan will develop further.

The Kyrgyz Vice-Speaker of Parliament Talant Mınbatov began his speech by paying tribute to the TRNC Founding President Rauf Denktaş.

Expressing his readiness to contribute to all efforts aimed at improving bilateral relations, Mınbatov said they want to see the TRNC become a member to the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic Speaking Countries.

The Kyrgyz delegation was also received by the Speaker of the Republic’s Assembly Hasan Bozer and Prime Minister İrsen Küçük respectively.

DOWNER: “INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CONDITIONS ARE FIXED”

UN Secretary General’s Special Advisor to Cyprus Alexander Downer made a statement about the news of the Turkish Newspaper Milliyet which noted that Maraş city of Cyprus will be opened in July and said that he has no information on that issue.

Downer underlined after his meeting with Greek Cypriot Administration Leader Dimitris Hristofias on Tuesday that he did not receive any information from Turkish Cypriot Side and Turkey about opening of MaraÅŸ city. Downer also pointed out that MaraÅŸ issue was not handled in his meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄŸlu in Brussels last week.

Special Advisor stated that the report on procedure of the Cyprus Talks to be submitted to the UN Secretary General will be ready this weekend and mentioned that he will have a meeting with the Secretary General in New York on 19th of April and in the light of the report Secretary General will discuss the steps to be followed with the two Leaders of Cyprus.

Downer also underlined that for an international conference on the Cyprus Issue the conditions were fixed by the Secretary General and they were valid.

PRIVATIZATION LAW APPROVED

The Republic’s Assembly has approved the much debated privatization law with a unanimous vote. The law will allow the privatization of state owned institutions. The TRNC Parliament approved the privatization bill with a unanimous vote during last session.

The law will allow the privatization of state-run institutions such as Ercan Airport and the TRNC Telecommunication’s Department.

Deputies from the Republican Turkish Party and Social Democratic Party did not take part in the voting process, leaving the General Assembly. The law was then unanimously approved by the remaining MPs.