US Senator and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Robert Menendez, will address on Thursday the World Conference of Cyprus Diaspora, which continues its session with briefings, among other things, on foreign policy and defence issues from the competent Ministers, on the issue of the missing persons, but also a Round Table discussion with foreign Ambassadors. The 21st World Conference of Diaspora Cypriots continues on Thursday with, among other things, a briefing on issues concerning the missing persons, by the Head of Humanitarian Issues for Missing and Enclaved Persons, Anna Aristotelous, and the Representative of the Greek Cypriot side in the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP), Leonidas Pantelides, in the presence of the Organisations of Relatives of Missing Persons. Later on, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Constantinos Kombos, will brief the conference participants about foreign policy matters, while the Government Spokesman, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, will speak about the international media and expatriates’ contribution to the promotion of the Cyprus problem. According to the conference programme a Round Table Discussion will follow with interventions by the Ambassadors of the USA, France, Israel and the UK High Commissioner in Cyprus or their representatives. Later, in the afternoon, the conference participants will be briefed, in a closed session, on defence issues by the Minister of Defence, Michalis Giorgallas and the Chief of the National Guard, Lt. Gen. Demokritos Zervakis. After that, a presentation of the work of the Cyprus Children’s Aid Committee by the Honorary President of the Committee, and First Lady, Philippa Karsera Christodoulides, and the President of the Committee, Accountant General of the Republic of Cyprus, Andreas Antoniades. At 17:15 (local time) Senator Menendez is to address the conference, according to the programme. The Conference started on Tuesday and continues until Friday. Approximately 300 people are participating in the conference, from the United Kingdom, the USA, Australia, Greece, South Africa, Zimbabwe, as well as France, Austria and Luxembourg. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
Source: Cyprus News Agency