US envoy to visit Cyprus

U.S. DEPUTY Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza, will visit Nicosia, Athens and Ankara in the next two weeks to investigate the intentions of the parties involved on Cyprus and the issues that are pending at a community level, involving Turkey’s customs union with the EU and regulations concerning Turkish Cypriots.

During a meeting yesterday with journalists in Brussels, Bryza described the Turkish proposals on Cyprus as positive. He said the initiative proved Turkey’s willingness to be involved in efforts to solve the Cyprus problem.

Bryza appealed to all parties involved to show a constructive and flexible stance so that the Secretary-General could be given the opportunity to investigate the proper ground for a new initiative for a solution to the political problem.

The US official said Turkey did have an obligation to implement the EU customs union protocol with the ten new members states including Cyprus.

However he also said that ending the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community would ease efforts to reunite the island.

Bryza’s visit to the region aims at ascertaining the intentions of the parties involved on issues concerning Cyprus, Turkey’s EU accession course and strengthening Turkish Cypriots.
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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.