A NATIONAL Council meeting held yesterday to discuss recent developments on the Cyprus issue will continue on Wednesday, government spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said.
After the two-and-a-half-hour meeting, Chrysostomides said President Tassos Papadopoulos had briefed the political parties on his visit to Athens on Wednesday.
Papadopoulos met Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis to discuss the way forward on the Cyprus issue following rejection of the Annan plan by Greek Cypriots at a referendum last Saturday.
The international community was bitterly disappointed with the result and has pointed the finger at the government for backing the ‘no’ campaign. Europe has now reached out to end the economic isolation of Turkish Cypriots, a majority of whom voted ‘yes’ to the UN reunification plan.
In Ankara yesterday, UN envoy Alvaro de Soto welcomed measures by the EU to assist the Turkish Cypriots but urged caution over diplomatic recognition of their tiny statelet.
“We are pleased with the EU’s steps… (but) recognition is a completely different matter. It would cause the (lasting) partition of the island,” said De Soto.
In Ankara for talks with Turkish leaders, De Soto said UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan would deliver an “analytical” report to the Security Council on Cyprus in which he would spell out what the Greek Cypriots’ rejection means and what the future role of UN peacekeepers there should be”.
The question of diplomatic recognition is proving a headache for Turkey, too. Ankara wants to join the EU but does not recognise the Cyprus government. The island joins the EU tomorrow as the Republic of Cyprus, with the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot government at the helm.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan shrugged off the issue in an interview published in yesterday’s Turkish mainland newspaper, Hurriyet, saying it would not deter him from attending Saturday’s ceremonies in Dublin to mark the EU’s historic enlargement.
“You can’t achieve anything by saying ‘I don’t recognise them’, so I will probably attend the ceremony in Ireland. The important thing is the process from now on,” he said.
Turkey hopes to win a date in December from EU leaders to open long-delayed entry talks. Papadopoulos said on Wednesday he would not veto the talks, provided that “Turkey behaves like a European country”.
In his interview, Erdogan said Turkey had no plans to withdraw any of its estimated 30,000 troops from northern Cyprus – a key concern for the Greek Cypriots.
