Opposition criticises blackout over talks

The two leaders Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akinci met on Monday evening for the fifth of six November sessions covering an intensive phase of discussions between the two sides.

CyBC reported that on the agenda were the issues of governance and citizenship, while at the last meeting of the current round, on Wednesday, the two leaders will discuss property issues.

The meeting was hosted by UN Special Advisor Espen Barth Eide and his deputy Lisa Buttenheim at the UN offices in Nicosia.

Eide had announced last month that the two leaders had agreed to an intense round of discussions during November and that no public statements would follow the meetings. A further round of intensive negotiations is to continue in December.

Opposition parties DIKO, Citizen’s Alliance and the Greens have criticised the president once again for keeping them in the dark over the discussions and asked for a national council meeting to brief all the party leaders. AKEL too said that it expects a detailed briefing of the parties at the national council from President Anastasiades.

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.