New York talks likely to end on Tuesday, says Denktash

PROXIMITY talks on the Cyprus problem which began in New York a week ago are likely to be wrapped up by Tuesday, Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash said yesterday.

Speaking after his meeting with Alvaro de Soto, the UN Secretary-general’s special representative for Cyprus, Denktash said further meetings would take place today and on Monday.

“I think we will be able to leave on Tuesday the 14th of December,” Denktash told reporters. “Tuesday evening our plane leaves. If there is a morning session, of course we will attend it”. Asked about the possibility of a new round of talks after the Christmas holidays, Denktash said: “We don’t know yet”.

President Clerides who met de Soto earlier made no comment on the talks, in line with a news blackout which has ensured no leaks coming out of New York as to whether any progress has been made in the past week. “Tomorrow (Saturday) we will continue the work we are doing,” Clerides said.

The proximity talks began on December 3, initially with the participation of UN Secretary-

general Kofi Annan who handed over to de Soto later in the week. The talks are aimed at paving the way for a possible resumption of direct talks between the two leaders who last met face to face more than two years ago in Glion, Switzerland.

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.