THE GREEK Cypriot side would not be to blame if talks on the Cyprus problem failed, the government said yesterday.
Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said the peace process had to be given a push in order for it to be fruitful, but adding that, if the process failed, it would not be the Greek Cypriot side’s fault.
President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash yesterday held their thirteenth meeting since the resumption of talks on January 16.
The meeting, which took place in a building near the UN-controlled Nicosia Airport in the presence of UN Secretary-general’s Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, lasted for one and a half hours.
The leaders will meet next Tuesday, February 19 for the last time before taking a break for a brief period of reflection. Talks will resume on Friday, March 1.
The UN announced on Thursday that talks between President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash would be held twice a week on Tuesday afternoons and Friday mornings.
“This was a technical issue, in an effort aimed at intensive negotiations, better and more in depth preparation from both sides for each meeting,” said Papapetrou.
Papapetrou also said nothing would change because the same number of hours per week would be allocated to the talks.
He added it was imperative that the two sides succeed in reaching an agreement through meeting points, noting the framework in which these meeting points could be achieved was provided by Security Council resolutions, the EU acquis communautaire and human rights.
Papapetrou noted that the government expected a change in the Turkish side’s political position and that this expression of political will would make a compromise on the Cyprus question feasible.
“There is not much room for optimism, and the history of the Cyprus problem should make everyone cautious, but since this process continues, we must give it every push in order for it to yield the greatest possible results.”
Asked if foreign envoys shared this view, Papapetrou said “no person on planet Earth could have any doubts” of it, adding that the government was preparing itself for all possibilities.
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.
