INDEPTH discussions on the issue of territory are due to begin today at the ongoing talks between President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.
Government spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said that so far Denktash had not linked the issue of territory with his claims for separate sovereignty but he did not rule out that this could happen in the future.
Papapetrou welcomed increased activity on the part of the international community to push for a solution and said that for the first time Europe and the US were telling Turkey that Cyprus was its door to the European Union.
”Denktash has made some suggestions, he listened to our views on the proposed map in the proposal, we asked for improvements on the map that would benefit the Greek Cypriot side and Denktash asked for improvements for the benefit of the Turkish Cypriot side. My understanding is that at the meeting we shall have a detailed discussion on the basis of these suggestions,” Papapetrou said.
”Foreign officials are doing now what we have always wanted them to do, exert actual pressure on Turkey,” the spokesman said.
Papapetrou said that Clerides was ready for a solution not only by the target date the UN had set (February 28) but earlier if Turkey showed “the necessary political will”.
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.
