The President of the Republic, Nicos Christodoulides, referred today in his remarks to our side’s readiness to participate in an expanded conference on the Cyprus issue.
When asked by reporters in Menoiko whether the convergence paper would be ready by the time Ms. Olgin arrives, the President of the Republic said that “we hope that this document will be ready. It must be provided to both sides as well as to the guarantor powers, so that as soon as possible, based on this document—which we consider a very good way to resume the talks—and once we all agree, we must safeguard the negotiating achievements and proceed to an expanded conference, during which the resumption of negotiations based on the points of convergence will be announced. “Since we agree on the points of convergence—we know very well where there is no convergence and where the differences lie—negotiations should resume by addressing the differences.”
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When asked if there would be progress by then, the President replied, “We hope so. We have a meeting this week as well with the Turkish Cypriot leader. I believe there is a significant degree of mutual understanding on the substantive issues and on methodological matters. We also discussed the Confidence-Building Measures, and I believe we are fully prepared, especially in view of the General Assembly. I was informed yesterday that the specific date and time of my bilateral meeting with the Secretary-General have been set. If my memory serves me correctly, it is Thursday of the week of the United Nations General Assembly, so that, since we’ll all be there, he’ll also meet with the Turkish Cypriot leader after the official week of the General Assembly has concluded, so we can move forward. We are ready on our part, and I hope there will be the same political will and the same positive response from all parties involved.”
