TURKISH Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash said yesterday he had presented an unofficial list of suggestions in an attempt to speed up UN-mediated talks aimed at reuniting Cyprus.
Denktash told reporters after meeting President Glafcos Clerides that he had put forward a number of proposals “taking into consideration past Greek Cypriot responses, and by showing some flexibility on some points”.
“The non-paper contains points on our views of the whole Cyprus problem… We hope some of realities will be accepted and the road will be shortened,” Denktash said.
The talks are being held under a media blackout, and Denktash would not specify what suggestions he had made for the negotiating process or for a solution.
Asked whether he had been given anything by Denktash, UN envoy Alvaro de Soto said yesterday: “I don’t comment on anything that occurs in the talks, nothing about plans, nothing about anything.
“I’m neither confirming nor denying. What occurs in the talks occurs in private and I will say nothing about that.”
Denktash said he expected the Greek Cypriots to respond to his non-paper after a break in talks this week to observe Greek Orthodox Easter. Clerides and Denktash will meet again on May 7.
The United Nations and other observers have bemoaned the slow pace of talks since Denktash and Clerides began meeting in January.
The two men had agreed upon a June deadline for a settlement on the island, though Denktash has recently complained about pressure imposed by the time constraint.
Clerides and Denktash met for 75 minutes yesterday in the presence of De Soto.
The UN envoy left for London yesterday on his way to New York to brief the UN Secretary General, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and the Security Council plenary. He will hold contacts in London this morning before flying on to the US this afternoon.
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.
