US steps up contacts for Cyprus talks

U.S. STATE Department Undersecretary Laura Kennedy will round off her series of meetings on the Cyprus problem today with meetings in Nicosia with President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, after visits to Athens and Ankara earlier in the week. The move is seen as preparatory work by the US before initiating a new round of peace talks.

Kennedy yesterday met with the Greek Foreign Ministry’s general secretary George Yennimatas. According to reports, Yennimatas stressed that any eventual effort for negotiations on the Cyprus problem should be carefully made in light of last year’s referendum on the Annan Plan.

“Our final aim is to have a solution that will be agreed between the two sides and if it is necessary, to be put before separate referenda, without mediation or tight deadlines,” he was quoted saying by Cyprus News Agency.

During her visit to Ankara, Kennedy called on Papadopoulos to inform the UN of the changes sought to the Annan plan, clearly stating: “The ball is in the court of the government of Cyprus.”

Government sources reportedly told Greek paper Kathimerini that Papadopoulos intends to brief Kennedy on the changes he would like to the Annan plan in their meeting today, but refuses to put those proposals in writing, said the paper.

Meanwhile, House President Demetris Christofias said Kennedy’s visit to the region was not for the sake of appearances. “She is not sent here for show but they (the US) must have something on their mind,” he said.

Christofias expressed the hope that the Americans would realise that their duty, as a superpower and permanent Security Council member, was not to support the positions of only one side. He acknowledged that without US involvement, no problems could be solved.

Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides also stressed the need for proper preparations before the resumption of any negotiations can begin for a solution of the Cyprus problem.

He reiterated that the Greek Cypriot side would not table its positions before the start of any negotiations.
 

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.