I. CYPRUSPIO - Statement by UN Secretary-General on Cyprus talks
The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who spoke with his Special Adviser for Cyprus Alexander Downer by telephone on Sunday, told journalists that it was “very important” that the two Cypriot leaders carried on with the negotiations despite “the very busy electoral campaign season” in the occupied areas. Replying to a question on the Cyprus peace talks yesterday at UN headquarters in New York, the Secretary-General noted: “I am not sure how much progress they will be making, but during my visit I stressed with them the importance of making progress”. “It is again very encouraging that the Turkish Prime Minister has made quite a good statement which will be also a good demonstration of the commitment of the Turkish Government,” Mr Ban asserted. He further pointed out that Mr Downer had visited both Greece and Turkey and had “very good consultation and support from those two countries”. “We hope that the two leaders can issue some joint statement on the agreement they will have made, that is my sincere hope. I have asked Mr Downer to do his best to facilitate to make progress,” the UN Secretary-General added.
The command of NATO's KFOR multinational force in Kosovo on Tuesday announced the closure of the Greek military camp "Megas Alexandros", where the Greek contingent in KFOR has been based until now. A KFOR spokesman said the closure of the Greek camp was part of an overall restructuring.
III. B92 - Balkan conference still uncertain
Three days before the scheduled date of the Balkans conference in Slovenia, it is still not known whether it will be held in the end. Slovenian authorities have been giving conflicting information regarding the fate of the Western Balkans conference. B92 has asked the Slovenian foreign ministry and the prime minister's cabinet for an answer on whether the conference will be held, but has yet to receive a written reply from either. In a phone call to the Slovenian foreign ministry, B92 was told that the conference would be held. However, the prime minister's cabinet stated that it would not give an answer to the question verbally or in writing, adding that a "statement will be sent to the public," and that this will be done "once all the invited participators have confirmed their participation in the conference." Serbian officials will not particpate in the conference unless Kosovo is represented as UNMIK/Kosovo, and Kosovo officials refuse to participate if they are not representing the independent state of Kosovo in the regional conference organized by Slovenia and Croatia.
The Turkish government has renewed its call for the European Union to remove visa requirements on its citizens within Europe. At a meeting in Ankara with Stefan Fule, the EU's new commissioner for enlargement, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said existing protocols dating back to 1973 should be invoked to ease the visa requirements. Davutoglu also pointed out the EU had waived visa requirements for three non-members -- Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro -- in December. Turkey has been a candidate to join the 27-nation union since 1999 and accession talks began in earnest in 2005. Among the hurdles it faces is opposition from some EU states disputing Turkey's geographical and cultural right to membership, longstanding claims of genocide against Armenians in the early 1900s and the more than 30-year-old territorial dispute with Greece over the sovereignty of Cyprus.
V. RT - Ukraine gives red light to NATO?
Ukraine is not going to be a member of any other countries’ military-political alliance, according to the country’s ruling coalition. Its non-allied status will be legally established, governmental newspaper “Golos Ukrainy” published on Tuesday. In addition, a parliamentary majority agreed to “form an agenda in bilateral relations with the Russian Federation, based on strategic partnership, friendship and good neighborly relations, and mutually proficient trade-economic cooperation.” However, the intention “to continue constructive cooperation with NATO on all issues of mutual interest” is also expressed in the paper. This move comes in sharp contrast with the policy of the previous Ukrainian government under Viktor Yushchenko, who had sought membership in NATO since he became president after the Orange Revolution in 2004. As such, this is a complete U-turn on the precious policy. The government’s statement, however, does not mention the European Union which Ukraine under Yushchenko had also sought to join. Historically, Russia had always opposed the plans of Ukraine becoming a member state of NATO. Thus the recently published military doctrine lists NATO’s possible Eastern expansion as Russia’s greatest external threat. Such a move caused outrage within the country. The opposition of Yanukovich’s government said that, in return, they are going to work together against Yanukovich and his supporters in parliament.
VI. RIANOVOSTI - Russian Orthodox Priest's Murder Solved
A gun found on a man who was shot dead by police in south Russia was used in the murder of a priest in Moscow last year, investigators said on Tuesday. The man, who was carrying a Russian passport in the name of Beksultan Karybekov, had been detained by police in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan in connection with an unrelated incident. "The detainee offered armed resistance - he grabbed a gun and threw a grenade, after which he opened fire with a hand gun at police. He was killed by their return fire," Investigation Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said. The gun found on his body was used in the killing of priest Daniil Sysoyev, who was shot dead by a masked gunman in St. Thomas' Church in southern Moscow on November 19, 2009. Sysoyev was known for his active missionary work in converting Muslims and people seeking to quit religious sects into Christianity. His assistant, Vladimir Strelbitsky, was badly wounded in the attack. The murder stirred a wave of condemnation from all religious groups in Russia, and demands for better security for the clergy. "Police have incontrovertible evidence that this very gun was used to kill Daniil Sysoyev," Markin said. A law enforcement source told RIA Novosti earlier that police had identified a suspect in the murder of Sysoyev, but that he was most likely abroad.
VII. ARCHONNEWS - Europe is asking Ankara to recognize the Ecumenical Patriarchate and other religious minorities
The European Commission for Democracy has made a ruling urging Turkey to recognize as from time immemorial the entire international community has done, the status of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and its historical role as it was already defined the sixth century. In the same ruling the legal status of all religious minorities in Turkey is recognized. The committee, the so-called Venice committee, named after the lagoon city where it gathered the day before yesterday, is part of the Council of Europe, which brings together 47 states, including Turkey. The Turkish authorities, since the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923, have refused to recognize the religious status of the See of Constantinople, considering it simply as a single diocese of the Orthodox community and the recognizing the Patriarch of Constantinople the sole function of the pastor of his community. This ruling, observes the noted journalist, editor of www.amen.gr Nikos Papachristou, in addition to restoring the historic right of Constantinople, lays the foundation not only for the reopening of the Theological School of Halki, but also to change the current situation, for which the metropolitans must be Orthodox Christians of Turkish nationality. The Commission states that the title "ecumenical" from the Patriarchate of Constantinople is universally recognized and that it does not understand the insistence of Turkish authorities in not recognizing a historically defined fact that is accepted throughout the world. This committee links the work of the theological school to the role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and has called for its immediate reopening. It explicitly calls on Turkey to legally recognise the Ecumenical Patriarchate and all the religious communities present in Turkey. The discussion was attended by two representatives of the government from Ankara, whose arguments were rejected. The committee also reminded Turkey of compliance with Article 9 of the Treaty on Human Rights, which establishes the right to religious freedom, which must not hinder the exercise of religious functions and the See of Constantinople to be titled the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Certainly, it is said in the ruling, Turkey is not obliged to recognize the ecumenical title, but it can not, however, force anyone to deny this historical title that is defined and universally accepted. And on that point, the grand jury said they did not understand the legal reasons for which Turkey refuses to recognize the historic role of the patriarchate. The ruling rejected Ankara’s appeal to the Lausanne Treaty, in so far as it makes no mention of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and therefore places no restriction on the exercise of its role. In this regard, committee members commented that the Treaty of Lusanne (1923) is now superseded and surpassed by recent treaties on the rights of man. So continuing to invoke it is a sign of defensive positions that have long been exceeded. The sentence, though once again condemns Turkey for breach of human rights, in essence, does not displease Erdogan, who can now reproach the godfathers of the old bureaucratic nomenclature, concentrated in the judiciary and the Supreme Court, a mentality that is not appropriate to European dimension, and may invoke the need to accelerate the reform of the Turkish Constitution, widely seen as responsible for all the ills of Turkey. It may be coincidence, but at last Thursday’s meeting in the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, that included the Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, who is also responsible for the religious foundations, and all the spiritual leaders of religious minorities, including Bartholomew, when asked by reporters about the reopening of the Theological School of Halki, the same Arinc replied that the Erdogan government has decided to allow its reopening. Hopes are born for a real springtime for religious minorities in Turkey.