Joint declaration continues to elude UN

An agreement on a joint declaration that would kick start reunification talks continued to elude the United Nations on Saturday, despite efforts to bridge differences between the two sides.

The UN said a lot of hard work and good progress on the preparation of a joint declaration had been made, but “there is still some work to do.”
“… but we are cautiously optimistic that the declaration can be agreed in the days ahead,” a UN statement said.
It added that UN special envoy Alexander Downer was leaving Cyprus on Saturday night after a 24-hour extension of his current visit to the island.
Downer had extended his stay on the island to hold further meetings with Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis and Turkish Cypriot negotiator Osman Ertug.
The meetings are part of efforts to bridge the gap between the two sides with a view to concluding a joint communiqué for the resumption of Cyprus talks.

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.