THE UN Secretary-general’s Special Advisor on Cyprus has made it clear that the status of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides and other issues of the Cyprus problem matters should be addressed through negotiations and not ahead of them.
Alvaro de Soto made the comments following Greek Cypriot anger at the terminology used in UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s report on human rights in Cyprus.
Annan’s report spoke of the “Greek Cypriot authorities”, in a move seen as equating the legitimate government of Cyprus with the unrecognised Denktash regime. The government demanded a correction.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) yesterday, De Soto said: “It is a mistake to read anything deeper into the issue,’ adding some “inappropriate terminology (had) inadvertently” found its way into the report.
De Soto said the report would be reissued and stressed that the only way the Cyprus problem could be solved was through the Secretary-General’s good offices.
“As everyone knows by now, some inappropriate terminology inadvertently crept into a recent report of the Secretary-General on human rights in Cyprus. This terminology is being adjusted and the report is being reissued accordingly,” De Soto said.
He dismissed fears that Annan intended to address the status of the Republic and the occupied areas through the report. “This is not correct,” he said.
De Soto said he and Annan had repeatedly made it clear that the status issue and others should only be addressed through negotiations “not prior to negotiations, nor by any other means.”
The Cyprus government yesterday welcomed De Soto’s assurances over the report.
Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said the statement that the text of the human rights report would be revised confirmed what the UN had told the government.
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.
