PRESIDENT Demetris Christofias characterised his trip to Athens as “completely successful” on his return yesterday and also noted that the election of Dervis Eroglu in the upcoming elections in the north would also be very negative for the Turkish Cypriots.
“I wish to express my warm thanks to the Prime Minister and the Greek government for the complete and unreserved support,” said Christofias. Christofias had just returned from a weekend trip to Greece during which he met with Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou, President Karolos Papoulias, and the leaders of the Greek political parties.
He emphasised that in his estimation there was “complete mutual understanding” from the Greek political establishment towards the efforts he is making to solve the Cyprus problem.
During his visit to Greece it was agreed to establish a special legal team within the Greek Foreign Ministry to deal with the Cyprus problem and advise on the negotiation process. Christofias also said that Papandreou accepted his invitation to visit Cyprus and that he would do so quite soon.
“We shall coordinate and intensify our international presence and the presentation on the international stage of the Cyprus problem and our positions on it,” said Christofias.
Upon his return Christofias also commented upon the possible of Dervis Eroglu as ‘president’ of the ‘TRNC’ saying: “It would be a very negative development for the entire Cypriot population because I believe, sincerely, that the formal division of the island would be a grave blow for the Turkish Cypriots also”.
DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades expressed satisfaction at the announcement made yesterday of the establishment of a dedicated legal team within the Greek government to deal with the Cyprus problem.
“I would like to remind people that this was a demand and recommendation of DISY which it has insistently repeated the past few years,” he said. Anastassiades added that he could not understand how the Greek Cypriot side has been negotiating and submitting proposals for the last year and a half without such a team.
Yiannakis Omirou, the leader of EDEK and Giorgos Colocassides the deputy leader of DIKO both expressed unease over the letter which, just prior to his recent departure to Athens, Christofias sent to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and the comparisons and references it contained to the Annan plan.
