Only cancellation will do

POSTPONING the delivery of the S-300 missiles will not bring about a solution, but will worsen the current situation, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Necati Utkan said yesterday.

Speaking at a press briefing in Ankara, Utkan said the only action from the Cyprus government which would be “meaningful” to the Turks would be the complete scrapping of the deal.

And, he added, the defence dogma between Cyprus and Greece should be ditched.

“This military pact between Greece and Greek Cypriots… should be cancelled for an actual decrease in tension,” Utkan said.

Referring to American attempts to cancel the missile order in return for a moratorium on overflights by both Greek and Turkish warplanes, the spokesman said this was something to be discussed by the two communities on the island.

The S-300s and the flight moratorium were also on the agenda at a meeting between British Defence Minister George Robertson and his Greek counterpart Akis Tzohatsopoulos yesterday, following on from Robertson’s contacts on Tuesday with Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz.

Robertson urged the acceptance of the ban on military flights, and reiterated the need for a bi-communal, bi-zonal federal solution. He also said he would meet with President Glafcos Clerides in October to discuss the whole situation.

Meanwhile in Nicosia, Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides said the delegation accompanying President Glafcos Clerides to New York this Friday would be “considered as equal”.

The party leaders who were going with the president would, he said, be taking part in any meetings “where their presence would be considered helpful.”

Clerides is travelling to New York to address the UN General Assembly next week. He will also meet with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and others.

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.