Clearer picture on future of talks soon 

A CLEARER picture about efforts to resume the Cyprus talks would emerge in the coming days, government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said on Sunday.

President Nicos Anastasiades was in contact with the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy Jane Holl Lute, Prodromou said, noting there could developments soon.

Speaking after a memorial service for Eoka fighters of the Nikitari village, Prodromou said that with the completion of Lute’s meetings with the guarantor powers, “we expect consultations will continue in the light of what she heard from the guarantor powers.”

Lute should give an indication of the next steps in her efforts to establish agreement on the terms of reference for the resumption of negotiations, Prodromou speculated.

Local elections taking place in Turkey on Sunday, were linked to Ankara’s wish to delay the resumption of the Cyprus talks until after June, he said. Turkey’s response to Lute’s efforts to secure a resumption of talks was of vital importance, as the discussion on security issues depended, to a great extent, on Ankara’s position.

In his speech in the church, Prodromou said that Anastasiades was seeking for the resumption of talks to incorporate the views expressed by UN General Secretary, Antonio Guterres, in Crans-Montana about the need for a solution without guarantees and the unilateral right of intervention.

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.