Brill coy on overflights

THE U.S. would not welcome any incident in or near Cyprus that could detract from efforts to solve the political problem, ambassador Kenneth Brill said yesterday.

Brill was fielding questions from journalists about Sunday’s violation of Cyprus air space by Turkish military jets on their way to Israel.

Turkey and Israel have a military co-operation deal which has caused considerable concern in Cyprus.

The government said on Monday it would protest Sunday’s incident to Israel.

The government has also criticised Britain and the United States for what it sees as their lack of interest for developments in the region, as witnessed by their lack of reaction Sunday airspace violation.

Brill declined to comment directly on the weekend incident. “I have seen the reports, but I do not have any particular comments to make. There are a lot of things that happen in the world every day that I do not comment upon, ” Brill said.

However, he added: “The US does not like to see events happen on the island or near the island that take away from stability and detract from efforts to solve this political problem.”

Brill also refrained from commenting on whether the US would be willing to exert pressure on Turkey to respect international law.

“The US is ready to do everything that needs to be done to help get a settlement,” he said.

Brill said US President Bill Clinton “has demonstrated over the years his commitment in solving a number of problems and trying to deal with all the unresolved issues on the international agenda”.

He called Clinton’s diplomacy “vigorous”, and said the American President “wished to leave behind in his administration a record of problems solved”.

In a letter to Greek Americans earlier this month, Clinton said he was just as committed to finding a solution to the Cyprus problem as he was to the Middle East and Kosovo conflicts.

But in reply to comments that little has been achieved on the Cyprus problem, Brill said: “Problems can take a long time to be resolved, but the effort is there and I think ultimately we are going to get the result.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.