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[Agios Amvrosios]

Article from Cyprus Weekly Online



Lord Hannay, like the consummate diplomat that he is, made a most polished presentation of the current state of the Cyprus problem during this week's Wilton Park conference. This was most convincing for anyone unaware of the complexities of the problem, but deliberately misleading at the same time for the grave omissions and distortions of the situation.

The main reason that the Plan has been rejected by the Greek Cypriots is that its philosophy, and basic objective, is the dissolution of the existing Cyprus Republic, and its replacement by the proposed format of two "constituent states."

This tended to legitimise the consequences of the war crimes committed by Turkey by ignoring fundamental human rights and democratic principles, the relevant judgements of the European Court of Human Rights, not to mention the plethora of UN General Assembly and Security Council resolutions making specific demands that Turkey has been dismissing contemptuously for the past 30 years!

In his address Lord Hannay admitted that the 1960 treaties leading to the end of British colonial rule and the birth of the Cyprus state were imposed on the people, and that this undemocratic procedure is mainly responsible for the current problem. It is weird that while admitting the error of the earlier "imposition" of an undemocratic solution, Lord Hannay in effect insists on yet another "imposed" settlement, the Annan Plan. He insists that this is the only acceptable settlement, even though it has been rejected in a democratic referendum because according to a multitude of prominent international constitutional experts it is nothing short of a "monstrosity" that violates international law, basic democratic principles, the EU acquis and fundamental human rights for the sake of political expediency.

He also spoke of the "sacrifices" the Turkish Cypriots made by accepting the Annan Plan, but without revealing that basically these amount to surrendering the illegal spoils they have been enjoying as a result of the unpunished Turkish war crimes.

Lord Hannay, and all those other staunch supporters of the Annan Plan need to be reminded constantly of the clear evaluation of its merits by Daniel Fried, the senior US State Department official, who summed up the situation by declaring that ``the United States offered Turkey Cyprus in the form of the Annan Plan,'' in an effort to persuade it to support the US invasion of Iraq.!

The only other things that need to be said is for Presidents Vassiliou and Clerides to come clean and admit, or deny, Hannay's claim that the Annan Plan is nothing more than what they themselves agreed to.

It is also time for President Papadopoulos, and all those others saying that the Annan Plan is still on the table, to bury it for good as decided by the referendum vote. They must instead put forward as the only acceptable alternative, a viable internationally guaranteed plan based not on political expediencies but on democratic principles, respect for international law, human rights and the EU acquis.

Kofi Annan yesterday challenged Tassos to declare what he wants; let him do so in detail without further delay.

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QUESTION: Another disclosure on Cyprus. According to an article written by established Greek-American organization, to be published soon in a very well known American magazine, a full copy of which is in my possession, reveals the following:

"Why then the consternation about the rejection of the Annan plan? Because the true purpose was not the claimed goal of the reunifying the island, divided since the Turkish invasion of 1974, but the one stated by Mr. Daniel Fried, a senior State Department official. At a public meeting in Washington on June 26, 2003, in the presence of this writer and others, Mr. Fried declared: 'When we were trying to persuade Turkey to allow the passage of our troops through its territory into Northern Iraq, we offered Turkey two incentives, several billion dollars in grants and loans, and Cyprus, in the form of the Annan Plan.' When Turkey refused passage, the billions were dropped; however, the Annan plan survived, until it was dropped by the Cypriots on April 24th."

Can you comment on that? Because it's coming from the mouth of Mr. Fried, Daniel.

MR. BOUCHER: Daniel Fried works at the National Security Council.

QUESTION: But at times he was --

MR. BOUCHER: He's a State Department officer.

QUESTION: Correct.

MR. BOUCHER: He's been Ambassador to Poland. He now works at the National Security Council.

Second of all, I think the United States has been quite clear that we have worked for a settlement between the two communities in Cyprus since long before Saddam Hussein took power in Iraq, since long before the issues of Iraq's invasions and weapons of mass destruction programs and other things became an issue. The United States' record on trying to reconcile the two communities and bring them together is abundant and clear, and has not -- the reasons for our trying to do that have not changed in -- year to year. They've been consistent since 1963.

QUESTION: What about the connection between Iraq and the Annan plan?

MR. BOUCHER: There is no connection between Iraq and the Annan plan.

QUESTION: Richard, just to go back to Lambros' original question, can you state that your decision to regard Mr. Talat as the Turkish Cypriot -- "the leader" of the Turkish Cypriots is, in no way, related to Mr. Denktash's opposition to the Annan plan?

MR. BOUCHER: This is a decision about who we can deal with as the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community. That is Mr. Talat. That is the person they put forward as their delegate, their head of delegation, their negotiator, their representative at Switzerland. That is the person who has carried this process forward and who has continued to carry it forward, and he's the person that we meet with as the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community.

QUESTION: But you can't rule out, you can't say, "No, it has nothing to do with Denktash's opposition to the Annan plan"? You can't say that?

MR. BOUCHER: It's a question of how we consider Mr. Talat, how we meet with Mr. Talat. That's what I'm answering you. That's what I'm telling you.

QUESTION: But your answer is tautological. I mean, you say he's the leader because we meet with him as the leader. I mean, it's a tautology. All I'm saying is can you tell me, "No, it has nothing to do with Denktash's political views on the Annan plan"? But you won't say that.

MR. BOUCHER: I'm saying it's about Mr. Talat.

QUESTION: Well, can you say that --

MR. BOUCHER: And that's the question. That's the answer I'm giving.

QUESTION: And so, but you can say definitively that the decision to regard Mr. Talat as the leader stems from, or dates from, his selection to go to Switzerland to talk -- to lead the --

MR. BOUCHER: Since that time, we have dealt with him as the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community.

QUESTION: And does that not necessarily -- doesn't it flow from that that Denktash's non-presence in Switzerland and his opposition to the plan that that's the reason for it. Does that not make sense (inaudible)?

MR. BOUCHER: It flows from the fact that he was their designated leader at the talks, that he was the leader in the referendum, that he was the leader who came to the United States, who came to New York on their behalf, and he is the person therefore that we've been meeting with as the leader.

QUESTION: The reason that he was doing that was not because -- the reason that Talat was doing that instead of Denktash wasn't because of Denktash's health, for example, it was because he was opposed to the plan.

MR. BOUCHER: The fact is that Mr. Talat was leading the Turkish Cypriots, has been leading them, is leading them, and we deal with them as that way. That's the issue here.

QUESTION: (Inaudible), correct?

MR. BOUCHER: Excuse me?

QUESTION: You are placing Denktash into the corner.

MR. BOUCHER: We are dealing with Mr. Talat as the leader of the Turkish Cypriots. That's the simplest answer I can give you for a whole lot of reasons, that that's the role that he's been playing and we accept him in that role.

QUESTION: Change of topic?

QUESTION: Can I just have one more? Not about this -- not about that specifically.

MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.

QUESTION: How is the review coming? There are some -- been some reports in the region that decisions had been made about easing, making it easier for Turkish Cypriots to get visas to the United States, in terms of the rewards that they will accrue for -- has there been any decision made on that?

MR. BOUCHER: I think, as we've said, we're looking at a series of steps that can ease the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. The review has been progressing. I don't have anything to announce today.

QUESTION: Is there something coming up soon? Would you expect it to be soon?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't have anything to announce today.

QUESTION: Well, is it in its final stages, the review?

MR. BOUCHER: It's been progressing quite well.

QUESTION: Richard, do you have any announcements to be made today on the reward for Mr. Zarqawi?

MR. BOUCHER: No, I don't. I think there were some reports that we were going to increase the reward. It's a matter that's still being discussed in this building. There's not a specific recommendation or decision on that at this point. If there's a decision to do that, we'll tell you when.

QUESTION: Who makes that decision? Is it DS, or is it White House, or --

MR. BOUCHER: The Secretary of State.

Yeah. Okay.

QUESTION: Has a recommendation been made to the Secretary?

MR. BOUCHER: There's no recommendation at this point.

Okay. Joel.

QUESTION: Richard, the U.S. Army has nabbed a number two in Najaf, the Deputy to this cleric al-Sadr. But as they pointed out in the report, al-Sadr is getting firmly entrenched with Iran throughout this whole melee in Najaf and nearby. Is -- have you gone to both the UN and elsewhere to criticize, again, the Iranians for interceding?

MR. BOUCHER: A couple things on that: first of all, I think we've made clear our view that Iran should try to play a constructive role in Iraq and not support factions or militias; second of all, you'll remember there was a visit by a senior Iranian official to Baghdad, not so long ago, while this situation was going on. And I believe he expressed at that time his view that this should be solved peacefully and with respect for clergy and for the responsible authorities in Baghdad for the Iraqi Governing Council and their authority, central government authority.

So that's the kind of role we do believe they should play. We've made that clear. We had a meeting -- the British had a meeting that we were part of at that time. And that's a view that we've made known in public as well as in that meeting.

QUESTION: Richard, are there any plans to update the Worldwide Caution that's out, or perhaps issue a new one in light of this new intelligence that reportedly points to attacks against America or American interests this summer?

MR. BOUCHER: I'll have to see. I forgot to check. I think if you look at the Worldwide Cautions we have, they're fairly strong already. But we'll see if they can be improved if they need to be.

Okay. Sir. I'll come back.

QUESTION: Deputy Secretary Armitage had a meeting with the Japanese Deputy Vice Minister for Foreign Policy this morning. Do you have a readout on that?

MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.

QUESTION: I have a follow-up.

MR. BOUCHER: Okay. That implies my answer is going to be unsatisfactory?

(Laughter.)

Deputy Vice Foreign Minister Nishida met this morning with Deputy Secretary Armitage for about 30 minutes. They discussed a number of issues important to both countries, including North Korea and cooperation in Iraq's reconstruction. Following the meeting with the Deputy Secretary, Mr. Nishida met with Under Secretary Bolton.

He was meeting with Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly at 11:45, so I don't have a readout of that. But the intention was to discuss regional issues as well as bilateral matters in that meeting.

QUESTION: I still have a follow-up.

MR. BOUCHER: Okay.

QUESTION: In the conversation with Deputy Secretary Armitage, did the issue of a man named Charles Jenkins --

MR. BOUCHER: No, it did not come up.

QUESTION: It did not come up?

MR. BOUCHER: It did not come up.

Teri.

QUESTION: Do you have anything to preview the meeting of Secretary Powell with the Finnish Foreign Minister? I can't imagine what kind of pressing bilateral issues they're going to talk about.

MR. BOUCHER: The Secretary will meet with Finnish Foreign Minister Tuomioja --

QUESTION: That's actually why I asked, to see if --

MR. BOUCHER: You wanted to see if I could say it and I didn't practice -- at 2 p.m. I would expect they'll talk about the issues of the day in Iraq, Afghanistan, Middle East, non-proliferation efforts that we do share with Finland. And, obviously, we'd look for any role that Finland would like to play in the reconstruction effort in Iraq or elsewhere.

QUESTION: And there hasn't been any so far, has there?

MR. BOUCHER: Finland pledged 5 million euros at the Madrid conference, at the Madrid conference. And they -- I think their law requires UN mandate for their peacekeepers to go to Iraq. We'll have to see if they want to look at that after there's a resolution.

They have also given a considerable amount for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan and they have a civil military cooperation team in Kabul that they're increasing to 60. And they're also planning to help with the Nordic Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan. So they are involved in all these areas to a significant extent, and certainly we welcome that.

Matt.

QUESTION: Move on to the car bombs in Pakistan, in Karachi. It's my understanding that you guys -- that you are under the impression that the Consul General's residence was not actually the target of these bombs, but that, in fact, it was the Pakistani-American Cultural Center, which has no affiliation with the U.S. Government. Is that correct?

MR. BOUCHER: That's the initial impression. I'd have to say the bombs that took place were, I guess, about 50 meters down the street from the Consul General's residence. So I'm sure they'll be looking, as part of the investigation, at trying to identify what the target was and whether it was incidental that the Consul General's residence was down the street, or if that was part of the -- part of this point.

QUESTION: You're sure that 50 meters is the right --

MR. BOUCHER: That's what I'm told.

QUESTION: What is the Pakistani-American Cultural Center?

MR. BOUCHER: Let me say what I can about this. First of all, we definitely -- we deplore the attack that occurred today outside the Pakistani-American Cultural Center. This is an English teaching facility that's not officially connected with the U.S. Consulate in Karachi. We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the terrorist incidents. There were no American citizens who were victims. One member of the U.S. Consulate's Guard Force was injured in the explosion, is being treated as a local hospital, and embassy personnel have been to visit him and others, I think, that were injured.

U.S. Consulate personnel tell us that the Pakistani police responded quickly to the scene, that their actions prevented a greater loss of life. We appreciate the professionalism and the care that Pakistani authorities have taken to protect U.S. Government facilities in Karachi and elsewhere in Pakistan. We expect the Pakistani authorities will conduct a thorough investigation of this incident and take swift action to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.

QUESTION: You said that the cultural center is not affiliated with the consulate. Does it have any affiliation with U.S. Government, like, does it get any funding, or is it, to your knowledge, a totally private organization?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know for sure. I'll have to check and see if there's any sort of grants or other support that we might provide.

QUESTION: It would be nice if you could do that.

MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.

QUESTION: Yeah. Over the past -- well, within the past week, the Czech Government has reversed itself on selling an early warning system or some kind of a radar system to China. And I'm just wondering how much pressure you put on your friends, the NATO allies, to stop this sale.

MR. BOUCHER: We discussed the issue. This is called the VERA Passive Radar. We discussed the issue with them, but the decision was theirs. We are pleased they made the decision, but we understand the decision was in keeping with their obligations under the European Union's arms embargo. We do value our cooperation with Czech Republic in our non-proliferation relationship and partnership.

QUESTION: Is it not correct that the United States was prepared to step in and buy this to prevent the Chinese from getting it?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't have anything further on something like that.

QUESTION: Do you have anything on --

MR. BOUCHER: It's their decision, they made it.

QUESTION: Do you have anything on China's desire to purchase, I think, uranium from Brazil?

MR. BOUCHER: No.

Yeah, Teri.

QUESTION: Uzbekistan now says it will set up a commission to look into, I guess -- I don't know -- torture, in general, but the man that the Department expressed concern about last week. Do you know anything about this? It says U.S. diplomats, U.S. forensics experts, and other Americans will be on the commission.

MR. BOUCHER: I don't. I'll have to check and see.

QUESTION: You welcome the move? I mean, is that -- it's -- there's so many --

MR. BOUCHER: It sounds like a good thing, but I don't -- I'm just not -- hadn't realized they had taken that step. I'll have to see.

QUESTION: Have there been more conversations about this since you put --

MR. BOUCHER: I'll have to check.

QUESTION: As a follow-up, when you're checking, would you see if, whatever the answer gives, would affect any suspension of aid or affect any redirection of aid at the same time?

MR. BOUCHER: Yeah, okay.

QUESTION: Can I just go back to --

MR. BOUCHER: Sure.

QUESTION: -- my favorite topic from yesterday?

QUESTION: I had -- Uzbekistan?

MR. BOUCHER: Uzbekistan, again.

QUESTION: Just a real quick one. When is the designation due? When do we have to make the decision about --

MR. BOUCHER: I'm not sure there's a precise date.

A PARTICIPANT: There isn't.

MR. BOUCHER: There isn't.

A PARTICIPANT: There's no specific date, but funds cannot be expended.

MR. BOUCHER: Funds cannot be expended until. So I suppose the date would be the end of the year, but it depends on the type of funding.

QUESTION: When you check into it, could you also check into whether the President -- if the Secretary decided not to certify, whether the President could choose to issue a waiver, therefore allowing the funds to go forward? I'm not asking for an answer on this because, obviously, you guys haven't made a decision, but it would be nice to know if there is waiver authority.

MR. BOUCHER: Is there waiver authority in the legislation? I'll have to check on that. Don't know.

Matt.

QUESTION: Perhaps, or almost certainly predictably, the Chinese have complained that you are going to allow the Taiwanese Vice President to go on this little junket to Las Vegas. I'm wondering -- they say that it's a violation of the One China policy and a violation -- and goes against the three communiqués. I guess I'm just looking for your response.

MR. BOUCHER: It's a transit. It's being done for the safety, convenience and comfort of the traveler, and it's very similar to other transits that we've allowed in the past.

QUESTION: The Middle East?

MR. BOUCHER: Sure.

QUESTION: Richard, the Sharon spokesman just said that they are forwarding a revised version of the plan, the Sharon plan for disengagement. Have you been made aware of any plans?

MR. BOUCHER: We have not seen a new plan. We've certainly kept in touch with the Israeli Government. We continue to express our support, as we did with the Quartet, for a plan for full withdrawal from Gaza.

We've continued to keep in touch with the Palestinian side to try to get them to prepare for taking the responsibility in Gaza, and that's something that we continue to meet, discuss with them and with others. Our Consul General has been meeting with Palestinian officials, including Abu Alaa yesterday.

Our Ambassador in Israel has been meeting with Israeli officials. But as far as what kind of plan, what Prime Minister Sharon puts forward at this point, I don't have any insights or information for you.

Okay?

(The briefing was concluded at 1:30 p.m.)

DPB #85




Released on May 26, 2004

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D. Fried

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The US continues to support in earnest UN efforts to find a comprehensive settlement of the protracted Cyprus question and believes the ongoing UN process of negotiations, interrupted by the Turkish side, is in the interests of all Cypriots.
"Although Mr. Denktash (Turkish Cypriot leader) withdrew from the talks last November, we continue to work with the UN and other interested parties to put the process back on track," Daniel Fried, Special Assistant to President George Bush and Senior Director for European and Eurasian Affairs, said in a reply letter to two councilors of the Barnet Borough in London. The US, he said, believes that "continuing the process is in the interests of all Cypriots" and "to support strongly and actively the UN Secretary General's efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement on Cyprus."

www.ana.gr/2001