Christofias: I will be going to New York

PRESIDENT Demetris Christofias yesterday insisted that the slated meeting in New York at the end of the month with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will go ahead despite the political pressure he has been under at home to postpone it.

“I state very clearly that we will go to New York,” Christofias said in statements after the meeting he held earlier yesterday with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis  Eroglu.

Asked to comment on the meeting, and any possible progress, Christofias said: “We are very close on the issue of the parliament.”

He noted however that there were still pending issues with regard to the chapter of governance on which there is a shift on the position by the Turkish Cypriot side.

 “We stand by the position that has been previously agreed,” Christofias said.

He said another meeting between the leaders is scheduled for Wednesday and that their last meeting, before going to New York, will take place on October 21.

 “I hope that by then (the New York meeting) we will make one more positive step forward,” he added.