President Nicos Anastasiades has stressed to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council that he is ready to engage in a dialogue for the Cyprus solution from where this was left in July 2017 at Crans Montana, given that there will be adequate preparation.
The President who is in New York for the UN General Assembly hosted a working lunch for the five Permanent Representatives which was attended by Cypriot Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides, Government Spokesman Prodromos Prodromou, Undersercetary to the President Vasilis Palmas, Greek Cypriot negotiator at the Cyprus talks Ambassador Andreas Mavroyiannis and Cyprus’ Permanent Representative at the UN Kornelios Korneliou.
The President made it clear that the solution should be based on the UN Resolutions and the Guterres Framework as it was tabled in Crans Montana. Speaking to the press after the meeting, the President said that he held a productive discussion and that he made it clear that there needs to be efficient preparation before the resumption of the talks to avoid a failure that perhaps will give the opportunity to some to present “different plans.”
He added that he briefed the Permanent Representatives that there are still important differences that need to be addressed , ie the withdrawal of the map by the Turkish Cypriot side.
Replying to a question about his expectations of the meeting he is set to have with UNSG on Friday , the President said that he will convey once again his determination for the resumption of the talks and also the need to have a climate without any violation of Cyprus’ sovereign rights, so as to avoid any circumstances which will not lead to a dialogue, but probably to deadlock.
Replying to another question, he said that he is ready to elaborate some ideas to the UNSG but advised to be patient.
Asked if there is information that the Turkish side is promoting an alternative solution outside the framework, he referred to public statements made by Turkish officials.
According to a diplomatic source, the discussion with the P5 focused on the Cyprus negotiations and the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus. The same source said that the President was satisfied with the approach of the P5 regarding the presence of UNFICYP.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Numerous UN-backed negotiations, aiming at reuniting the island under a federal roof, have failed to yield results. The latest talks under UN aegis took place in the summer of 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana.
(Cyprus News Agency)
