THE UNITED Nations Security Council said in New York yesterday that the Turkish Cypriot side has been “less constructive” than the Greek Cypriots in efforts to solve the Cyprus problem, and expressed its disappointment that progress has been slow and the June target date for an agreement had not been met.
In a statement read out by the Security Council President, British Permanent Representative to the UN Sir Jeremy Greenstock, after the Council was briefed by the UN Secretary-general’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Alvaro de Soto, the Security Council urged both sides to work with de Soto to enable him to establish the component parts of a comprehensive settlement which takes full consideration of Security Council resolutions and treaties.
“The members of the Council expressed disappointment that, despite the Secretary-general’s valuable personal involvement, including when he visited the island in May, progress remained disappointingly slow and the June target date for agreement had not been met”, the statement said.
It also said the Security Council “noted in this regard that the Turkish Cypriot side has been less constructive in its approach so far and had declined to support the goal of resolving the core issues by the end of June”. It “also noted with regret that the call by the members of the Council on May 2 that the UN should play a fuller part in the talks has not yet received the requisite response”.
The Council statement added that “the members reiterated that call”.
It urged both sides to work with De Soto to enable him to achieve “a comprehensive settlement which takes full consideration of relevant Security Council resolutions and treaties”.
It “strongly underscored the need for the Turkish side in particular to move in this direction”.
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.
