GREECE: UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN ATTEMPTS TO PUSH FORWARD PEACE DEAL TO RE-UNITE DIVIDED ISLAND OF CYPRUS
Record ID:
222854
GREECE: UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN ATTEMPTS TO PUSH FORWARD PEACE DEAL TO RE-UNITE DIVIDED ISLAND OF CYPRUS
- Title: GREECE: UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN ATTEMPTS TO PUSH FORWARD PEACE DEAL TO RE-UNITE DIVIDED ISLAND OF CYPRUS
- Date: 26th February 2003
- Summary: (U4) ATHENS, GREECE (FEBRUARY 25, 2003)(REUTERS) 1. MV UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN ENTERING VIP LOUNGE AT ATHENS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WITH GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER GEORGE PAPANDREOU 0.16 2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) KOFI ANNAN SAYING: "If this opportunity is missed it is not clear when it will re-occur, and if it will anytime soon. It is therefore easy to understand that decision time has come, that decision time has arrived, and why the parties should adhere to the goal of reaching an agreement on February 28. Perhaps that day and goal may slip a few days, but to go much beyond that date will doom the prospect of a re-united Cyprus signing the treaty of accession." 1.02 3. SCU REPORTERS ASKING QUESTIONS 1.06 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) KOFI ANNAN SAYING: "The revisions I have in mind will not come as a surprise to the parties. They are the culmination of the most intensive process of negotiation that has ever occurred on the Cyprus problem." 1.24 5. MV ANNAN SPEAKING WITH GEORGE PAPANDREOU; MV ANNAN LEAVING (2 SHOTS) 1.41 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 13th March 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ATHENS, GREECE
- Country: Greece
- Reuters ID: LVA7GN76TRH4VDB4QJTIZAFEXFDZ
- Story Text: United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is in
Athens to try and push forward a peace deal to re-unite the
divided island of Cyprus. Annan said there was a sense of
urgency attached to securing a peace deal if Cyprus still
retained hopes of gaining entry into the European Union as a
re-united country.
Speaking upon his arrival in Athens on Tuesday
(February 25, 2003) the United Nations Secretary General said the
time was ripe for sealing a peace agreement between Greek and
Turkish-Cypriot leaders.
Annan warned that if the leaders let this opportunity slip
them by, it was unclear when they would have another
opportunity to secure peace on the divided island of Cyprus.
"If this opportunity is missed it is not clear when it
will re-occur, and if it will anytime soon. It is therefore
easy to understand that decision time has come, that decision
time has arrived, and why the parties should adhere to the
goal of reaching an agreement on February 28. Perhaps that day
and goal may slip a few days, but to go much beyond that date
will doom the prospect of a re-united Cyprus signing the
treaty of accession," he said.
The United Nations had set a deadline of February 28 for
agreement to a United Nations peace deal to unite Cyprus. The
deadline must be upheld so that a united Cyprus can gain entry
into the European Union in time for the signing ceremony of
new candidates on April 16.
But leaders of both sides have expressed reservations about
reaching the deadline. Greek Cypriot President Tassos
Papadopoulos said on Monday the deadline was impossible due to
the unshifting position on negotiations by Turkish Cypriot
leader Rauf Denktash. Denktash has said in the past the
deadline was unreasonable. Annan arrived in Athens from
Turkey, where he said he held encouraging talks with Turkish
leaders on pushing forward the peace process in Cyprus. Annan
said Turkey understood the urgency of the situation.
Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday he believed a
deal could be reached to unite Cyprus. But his optimism was
not shared by Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, who said
there was little or no chance of a deal due to the
intransigence of Turkish Cypriot side.
Annan will be meeting with Simitis for talks on Tuesday
before travelling to Cyprus. There he will discuss a third
revision of the peace plan, authored by Annan himself.
Annan said there were no surprises in the third revision,
of which both leaders have received a preview. It is a
culmination of the intensive process of negotiations that has
occurred on the Cyprus problem, he told reporters.
Cyprus has been partitioned since 1974 when Turkish
troops invaded and occupied the northern part in response to a
brief coup by Greek Cypriots seeking union with Greece.
Decades of negotiations to re-unite the island have failed.
Any Cyprus deal would be based on a largely decentralised
bi-zonal confederation, one area populated largely by Greeks
and the other by Turks.
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