Talat expects UN envoy soon

TURKISH Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said yesterday he believed the UN would be sending an envoy to the island soon to assess the climate for the resumption of Cyprus talks.

Talat was speaking yesterday at a joint news conference in the north with US State Department Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Laura Kennedy.

He said the United States would launch concrete initiatives as soon as possible, which would include the arrival of a UN envoy.

“As far as I am concerned, the Secretary-general is still thinking of this option,” Talat said, adding that he believed the Greek Cypriot side was planning to send someone to New York in order to avoid such a move in case a visit by a senior UN envoy put pressure on them.

“International efforts should be intensified on resumption of negotiations, aiming at finding a solution,” Talat said.

Talat said the Turkish Cypriots supported reunification of the island, and a resumption of negotiations under the auspices of the UN.

He also said he had called on the US, through Kennedy to help end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots and that the US envoy had told him her government would continue to take steps to try and eliminate economic inequality between the two sides.

The Turkish Cypriot side had also shown their willingness for a solution, Kennedy said.

“I believe she has had sufficient and right impressions of her trip,” he said.

Kennedy met on Thursday with President Tassos Papadopoulos.
Commenting on the controversial property issue, Talat said not only Kennedy but also the entire world had been informed on the matter. He said he would also be writing letters to EU heads of state about it.

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.