Clerides briefs National Council on eve of departure for New York

THE NATIONAL Council met yesterday to discuss strategy for the resumption of proximity talks on the Cyprus problem in New York on Friday.

Party leaders left the Presidential Palace without commenting to the press.

Speaking after the four-hour meeting, Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said only that the parties had retained the same positions that they have already stated publicly.

Papapetrou too refrained from answering questions. He simply stated: “The National Council discussed in detail the strategy in view of the talks.”

Later yesterday, Clerides briefed the smaller parties who are not represented on the council, before he leaves for New York today to take part in the UN-sponsored talks.

He will be accompanied by Papapetrou, Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides, Undersecretary to the President Pantelis Kouros, Attorney-general Alecos Markides and other officials.

Cassoulides left the island yesterday afternoon to travel to New York via London, where he will meet Britain’s Cyprus representative Sir David Hannay.

While the New York talks are in progress, Cassoulides will leave New York twice for meetings in Europe related to the island’s EU accession course.

On December 10, Cassoulides will fly to Helsinki for the EU summit before returning to New York on December 12.

The proximity talks will be directed by UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan and his representative Peruvian diplomat Alfonso de Soto.

There is little optimism because of Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash’s insistence that he wants his regime to be granted recognition as a separate state before direct talks can resume between the two leaders.

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.