Clerides on his way back to Cyprus

PRESIDENT Glafcos Clerides is expected back home this afternoon, following the end of the first round of UN-led proximity talks on Cyprus.

Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides stayed behind in New York for the UN vote, expected late last night, on whether to renew for another six months the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (Unficyp).

An affirmative vote was expected on the Unficyp resolution, UN Security Council President Sir Jeremy Greenstock told the Cyprus News Agency yesterday.

The draft of the Unficyp resolution secures continuation of peace talks on Cyprus, in the context of the Helsinki EU Summit meeting, and reaffirms all relevant Security Council Resolutions on Cyprus, diplomatic sources at the United Nations said.

The sources said the second round of peace talks was scheduled to take place in Geneva in Switzerland from January 27 to February 6.

The Unficyp resolution was expected to reaffirm Resolution 1251, which notes that a Cyprus solution must be based Cyprus being unitary state with a single sovereignty and international personality, the sources added.

At the Helsinki Summit, the European Union reversed its December 1997 rebuff to Ankara, and invited Turkey to apply for membership in the 15- nation body. Turkey accepted the invitation.

But the same issues that were obstacles to an EU invitation in 1997 – Turkish occupation of Cyprus, its poor human rights record and its treatment of its Kurdish minority – remain on the table for any Turkish-EU accession process.

Clerides arrived in New York on December 1 for the proximity talks, which began two days later. After leaving New York, he stayed overnight in Zurich, before flying on to Cyprus today.

Returning with him are Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou, Attorney- general Alecos Markides and other government officials.

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.