Cyprus-Forum.com

[joe]

New UN chief raises Cypriot hopes though his first statements


BAN Ki-moon, who took over as the new United Nations Secretary General this week, raised hopes for a just Cyprus settlement through his first statements after being sworn in.
"My tenure will be marked by ceaseless efforts to build bridges and close divides," Ban said.
He added that, while feeling elated "by the successes of the UN in making life better for countless people, I have also been pained by scenes of its failures. In too many places could I feel the dismay over inaction of the UN, or action that was too little, or came too late. I am determined to dispel the disillusionment.''
The Greek Cypriots are among those people who remain deeply dismayed and disillusioned by the actions of the previous Secretary General, Kofi Annan, who tried to solve the Cyprus problem through the controversial plan bearing his name.
The plan violated the basic principles on which the United Nations is founded and was overwhelmingly rejected by the Greek Cypriots in a referendum.
Instead of aiming at the reunification of Cyprus as a single state, as demanded by UN resolutions, the Annan Plan tended to solidify its division by legitimising the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state, which is branded illegal by the UN Security Council and General Assembly.
It also ignored the numerous resolutions of these two bodies demanding the withdrawal of the Turkish troops and the return of the ethnically-cleansed Greek Cypriot refugees to return to their homes and to regain their usurped properties, in what is now the area illegally occupied by Turkey.
In his acceptance address, Ban also said that "the true measure of success for the UN is not how much we promise, but how much we deliver for those who need us most."
Cyprus is among those who need the UN most because it wants UN backing for a settlement based on full respect for fundamental UN principles and human rights.
It hopes, and prays, that the new Secretary General will succeed in his declared objective to dispel the disillusionment created by his predecessor.

[pantheman]

Enough said ....

I rest my case, he has said it all.

All we need now is to convert those words into action.

Pantheman

[cypezokyli]

i would keep my reservations if the highlighted parts of joes post, is actually what the new SG said.

and as i said before joe, would you be kind enough to share with us the webside from where you find these articles ?
thank you

[Natty]

Hi, It does sound slightly too good to be true...

Although, you never know, it could be...

[Viewpoint]

Is there a link to an independent source for this speech appears very controversial for a first speech he just stabbed Annan in the back.....

[andri_cy]

I don't think that everything that is quoted there, is word ki-moon said. Some of it is from the person that wrote the article"explaining" what his statements meant.

[Kikapu]

Yes Joe, Ban Ki- Moon stayed up all night to study the Annan Plan and criticize it as if he had no other agendas to deal with, you know little things like North Korea, Iraq, Israel-Palestine and so on. Unless you can provide the source to what you posted, you will be branded a liar and untrustworthy.

[Simon]

It seems quite clear that only the comments in quotation marks are those of the new SG. These comments don't even mention Cyprus specifically and indeed are just general comments. Of course, he would not say such controversial things so early in his new job.

[elko]

I agree with Simon. The new SG cannot be so foolish to make such a statement.

Back to the crunch of the matter, the infamous Annan Plan was the closest to a solution. Now we are very far from it and personally I have no hope left. The current line of division will be permanent with very minor changes like Varosha. In the next five years I expect Turkey to distance herself from EU, eventually end the Customs Union and go her way and forget Cyprus.
ismet

[Kifeas]

It seems quite clear that only the comments in quotation marks are those of the new SG. These comments don't even mention Cyprus specifically and indeed are just general comments. Of course, he would not say such controversial things so early in his new job.

What is the controversial comment from the above post?