Christofias sends delegation to funeral.

newlad



Joined: 02/03/2008
Posts: 7819

Message Posted:
04/06/2008 00:02

Mustafa Arif was one of several hundred Turkish Cypriots who dissapeared after clashes in the early 60s.This week president Christofias sent a delegation to his funeral will this be viewed as a publicity stunt or an act of good will on his part,

Regards,

Paul.

wynyardman



Joined: 15/12/2007
Posts: 4580

Message Posted:
04/06/2008 00:10

Hi Paul,



You only had to read the eulogy from Mr Arifs son, to know that goodwill was expressed to both parties. Very moving



wyn

dodger



Joined: 29/07/2007
Posts: 1895

Message Posted:
04/06/2008 10:09

John,

Totally agree with you mate, small steps i know but productive ones.Hope you are well,

Regards,

Paul.

ilovecyprus


Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 2880

Message Posted:
04/06/2008 15:37

This seems like a very significant act to me. Christofias is doing the right things. By sending a delegation to the funeral he is showing the GC's that TC's are humans with real feelings. This will send out a very strong message helping GC's to personify TC's as human as opposed to depersonifying, which has all too often happened in the past.



Also if the leaders continue get on favourably then many of the people will feel inclined to do so also.



Below is another very very significant act sending out a strong message:



CYPRUS has withdrawn eight appeals to the European Court of Justice against the EU financial aid package to the Turkish Cypriot side, Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said yesterday.



The cases were filed by Cyprus to the Court of First Instance at the European Court of Justice over the involvement of Turkish Cypriot ‘state’ organs in tenders for projects under the €259 million financial aid package.



Negotiations have been going on with the EU for months to find a compromise formula that would not jeopardise the financial aid package but at the same time would also halt any notion of recognition of the breakaway state in the north.



Had the cases not been withdrawn, they would have endangered the aid package because the tenders would have had to be cancelled.



Stefanou said yesterday the government had decided to withdraw the appeals to facilitate the disbursement of the aid in a way that would not constitute political recognition of the ‘TRNC’.



“The Turkish Cypriot community had been presented as a third country in the invitation for tenders,” Stefanou said.



However, he said the Commission had now amended the text, and it no longer included any reference, which could equate the Turkish Cypriot community as a country.



“The amended text clarifies that in Protocol 10 of the Accession Treaty of 2003 the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus are referred to as areas of the Republic of Cyprus on which the government of the Republic of Cyprus does not exercise effective control,” said Stefanou.



He said that as a result, the Attorney-general had recommended that Cyprus withdraw its appeals.



EU officials warned in March that the legal cases could bring down the entire financial aid programme for the north if Nicosia won the Court of Justice battle.



The Turkish Cypriot side would then lose the money because EU money not spent is lost.



The financial aid projects for the north include a waste management project, a feasibility study for the rehabilitation of the Lefka copper mine, financial support for the Committee for Missing Persons, traffic safety management, and demining in the buffer zone.







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