Yilmaz hails Holbrooke input

“The participation of the Turkish Cypriot side is the key to finding a solution to the Cyprus problem,” US Cyprus Envoy Richard Holbrooke said yesterday after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz in Ankara.

Holbrooke flew to Ankara on Monday in a surprise visit for talks with top Turkish officials after his two days of contacts in Cyprus.

The American envoy appeared yesterday to have gained the confidence of Yilmaz, who described his input as “the most constructive and realistic… that had existed to date as regards the Cyprus problem.”

Yilmaz added that, despite an absence of specific proposals from Holbrooke, “long-term not immediate results should… be expected.

Spokesmen for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said it would come as no surprise if the envoy chose to seek further Turkish Cypriot participation in future discussions. They repeated their calls for recognition of the ‘TRNC’ and said the attitude of the EU in hindering Turkish membership was not conducive to solving the Cyprus problem.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.