AKEL to meet Talat?

AKEL spokesman Andros Kyprianou yesterday declined to rule out a possible meeting between the party’s leader Demtris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot ‘Prime Minister’ Mehmet Ali Talat.

Kyprianou was commenting on decisions taken at AKEL’s central committee meeting on Thursday, where the results of the Euro elections were discussed along with the Cyprus issue.

AKEL has been left out in the cold recently as opposition DISY has begun to make inroads towards rapprochement with the Turkish Cypriots side in the wake of April’s referendum on the Annan plan when Greek Cypriots said ‘no’.

AKEL was one of the parties that had urged its supporters to reject the plan.

Members of DISY crossed to the north to visit the Greek Cypriot enclaved last month, coming under fire from government coalition parties.

Kyprianou said yesterday that for the past 30 years AKEL has been at the forefront of rapprochement efforts with the Turkish Cypriots and did not rule out the possibility that party officials would cross the Green Line to meet the Turkish Cypriot leadership. “Everything is open,” said Kyprianou.

Reports yesterday suggested Christofias might cross on Tuesday to mark the reopening of the secondary school in Rizokarpasso after 30 years, and that he would seek a meeting with Talat on the same day.

Kyprianou said the party would announce any developments in due course.

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.