DIKO calls for Cyprob conference

The Democratic Party (DIKO) has called for a special one-day conference to discuss the Cyprus negotiations indepth, the party said on Saturday after a lengthy meeting of the central committee to elect a new general secretary.

During the meeting, party leader Nicolas Papadopoulos briefed members on the progress of negotiations but said not enough information was coming from the palace and people were being kept in the dark.

The party did not give a date for such a conference nor who it might ask to participate and could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

“We express once more our concern and anxiety about the poor basis on which the talks are being held. The risks which we pointed out from the beginning are unfortunately being confirmed,” the party’s announcement said.

“The “good climate” which some cite is not supported by the course of the negotiations but instead it is shown that the Turkish side remains intransigent and firm on its long-standing positions.”

Key aspects that interest the Greek Cypriot side were not being discussed, only those of the Turkish Cypriots, it added, and President Nicos Anastasiades was not giving enough information to the public.

“This prevents the people from being informed about important aspects of the solution and increases the risk of creating false impressions or expectations,” the announcement said.

The assembly voted in the party’s new general secretary, Marinos Mousiouttas, who took the lead from his opponent Georgios Constantinou, with the 57.59 per cent of the votes.

 

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.