Media release from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Australia's special envoy for Cyprus, the Hon. Jim Short, has met with the
President of Cyprus, Glafcos Clerides, at the presidential palace in Nicosia,
Cyprus.
President Clerides
welcomed the Australian Government's appointment of Mr Short as Special Envoy
and said it was further evidence of the Australian Government's commitment to a
fair and just resolution of the Cyprus problem.
President Clerides
thanked Australia for the 37-year presence of Australian Federal Police serving
with the United Nations peace-keeping forces on Cyprus.� He said the Australian police had made an
important contribution to the peace-keeping process and were held in high
regard throughout Cyprus.
Mr Short said a
solution to the Cyprus problem was long overdue.� He reaffirmed Australia's commitment to the United
Nations-sponsored resolution process and urged all parties to the problem to
share that commitment.
Mr Short told
President Clerides he was visiting Cyprus to identify additional ways in which
Australia could assist the United Nations in brokering a solution to the
problem.
While in Cyprus, Mr
Short also met with other senior members of the Government of Cyprus and with
Turkish Cypriot leaders, including Rauf Denktash.
Cyprus is the first
leg of� Mr Short's visits to several
centres involved in the Cyprus problem.� After Cyprus, he will visit Athens, Ankara, Brussels, London, Washington
and New York.
Australia has the
second-largest Cypriot population outside Cyprus after the United Kingdom.
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