Cyprus problem solution ‘must come from Cypriots’

THE United Nations agree that any solution to the Cyprus problem must come from the Cypriots and not from outsiders, President Demetris Christofias said last night.

“With the UN we confirmed that this time, considering the bitter experience of the recent past, the solution must come from Cypriots and not from outside,” Christofias told reporters at Larnaca airport.

He had just arrived from France where he took part in the European Union Summit on the Mediterranean.

Christofias met UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon on the sidelines of the summit.

He said he was very satisfied with the meeting and that Ban expressed his readiness to facilitate the Cyprus problem negotiations now underway and “create the preconditions for its success without refereeing and strict timeframes.”

“It is something important, which I believe the UNSG will observe until the end,” the president said.

Ban will also be meeting Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in Berlin today.

Christofias and Talat will meet on July 25 to take stock on the progress made by the working groups and technical committees set up to prepare the grounds for fully fledged talks.

The two leaders will then decide whether to start direct negotiations to resolve the Cyprus problem.

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.