By Athena Karsera
THE GOVERNMENT yesterday confirmed widespread reports that UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan would attend the first meetings of the second round of proximity talks in Geneva.
“This is information we had from the start and with the end of the first round I made this public,” spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said.
And he added that one of the reasons why Geneva had been chosen as a venue for the talks was in fact because Annan would be there at the time.
Papapetrou said second round of talks, starting on January 31, would follow the same form as those carried out in New York in December. They will last for ten days and be at a proximity level with an embargo on statements.
Meanwhile, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou repeated yesterday that people-to-people diplomacy would positively contribute to solving the Cyprus problem.
Speaking during an interview on CNN, Papandreou said, “I think that they are very ready and wish to have contact. I am in contact with Greek Cypriots independent from government organisations and I know they very much wish to meet with their counterparts in the Turkish Cypriot community.”
He said he felt the Turkish Cypriots also wanted these meetings to take place, “I think there is a new mood, a new climate, especially following the recent Helsinki decision to guarantee Cyprus’ movement towards the EU at a very fast rate.”
Papandreou said that Turkey being made an EU candidate country had also played a part in the new climate. “I believe people-to-people diplomacy can work and we saw how effective it was in Greco-Turkey relations over the last months.”
Papandreou on Wednesday completed a two-day visit to Cyprus before going on to London to meet his British counterpart Robin Cook. He is due to visit Ankara in the coming week.
But in contrast to Papapandreou’s upbeat stance, the Turkish foreign ministry yesterday issued a statement referring repeating its insistence on two-state dialogue.
Issued to “clarify certain points on statements by Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou on the Cyprus problem,” the announcement said, “The problems in Cyprus will be solved by the two people and the two independent states on the island.”
“The Cyprus problem is not an EU problem but various past actions — in spite of our warnings — have turned the Cyprus problem into a problematic situation for the EU.”
The statement continued that an agreement between two equal stats on the island and their common actions towards Cyprus’ EU accession would be the only way for the Cyprus problem to no longer be seen as a problematic situation by the EU.
It then said that it was the responsibility of the UN Secretary-General and not the EU for a solution to be found.
“The opinion that the Cyprus problem will be solved with reference to the Helsinki decisions and in the light of Turkey-EU relations has no basis and is deceptive.”
The statement concluded that Papandreou’s use of the terms “invasion” and “pseudo-state” went “against the historical, legal and current reality.”
