PRESIDENT Glafcos Clerides yesterday denied being pressured by foreign diplomats to remove high-tech National Guard weapon systems from the island.
In a written statement read by Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou, Clerides said that no foreign ambassador – including the US ambassador – had ever suggested or raised the issue of removing any weapons from Cyprus.
The President’s statement sought to put an end to damaging rumours sparked by reports in Simerini and on Sigma, which revealed sensitive information about specific weapons systems.
Clerides said no decision had been or would be taken concerning the removal of any National Guard system.
He said he had repeatedly told the public that there were weapons that the National Guard would not demonstrate in parades and exercises, and added he was annoyed such sensitive issues had become public through irresponsible statements often involving deputies.
What was actually discussed, said the statement, was that National Guard personnel would be trained in Greece or in the country where the weapons originated so as to safeguard secrecy.
Clerides said reports claiming Defence Minister Socratis Hasikos was to resign over the issue were nothing but fables.
House President Demetris Christophias, who met Clerides yesterday, said that he had been assured there was no issue of removing any weapons.
Christophias struck a note of caution, saying the publication of sensitive military issues could only do damage to the Republic.
DISY deputy Antonis Karas said he did not have any specific weapon system in mind, but criticised members of the media for revealing information.
“I think that members of the media who reveal information on weapons systems are not doing any good to our defence; the issue here is not who reveals information first,” Karas said. “They should safeguard the National Guard.”
But Karas took the chance to issue a warning to all sides.
“We won’t consent to weakening our defence in light of the talks; we could consider it if those interested imposed the same principle on the occupying troops,” Karas said.
“Being the good guys unilaterally doesn’t do anyone any service,” he added.
Karas said there had been no scaling down of armaments in the occupied north, there had been constant pressure on the government to stop bolstering its defence.
AKEL deputy Doros Christodoulides said it has been known for many years that the Americans were constantly putting pressure on Cyprus not to procure high-tech weapon systems.
He said he was obliged to accept the official assurances from the President.
“I do not want to believe that the Clerides government would do the same as they did with the S-300 missiles,” he said.
In 1999, Clerides buckled under heavy pressure from the international community to cancel deployment of the highly potent Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft missile system.
The £250 million missiles, whose procurement sent the Turks in frenzy of threats, were instead deployed on the Greek island of Crete.
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.
