Statements by the President of the Republic on the resumption of Cyprus talks
“The basis of the negotiations was reconfirmed with a statement by the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus”, the President of the Republic Mr Demetris Christofias stated today, on his return to the Presidential Palace from the Nicosia airport area, where he held talks on the Cyprus problem with the Turkish Cypriot leader Mr Dervis Eroglu.
In statements to the press and asked how the first day of the resumption of the negotiations was President Christofias said that “in general it was good”, while when asked on the subject of the discussion between him and Mr Eroglu and whether they discussed all issues, he replied: “Certainly not all the issues. Of course the basis was reconfirmed with a statement by the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Mr Alexander Downer, as expressed also in the Report of the Secretary General. We welcomed this fact and begun talking on how we will address the issue of properties. We asked the reconfirmation of issues on which convergence was achieved, to whom properties belong and the points of categorization and we are moving forward”.
Invited to say whether the issue concerning the user and the owner of property was also discussed, the President of the Republic replied negatively and added: “we will move on to that, rest assured. And I assure you that there will be a serious discussion of these issues.”
Replying to a question on whether the next chapter to be discussed will be the property issue, President Christofias replied affirmatively, adding that it is already pre decided that it will be discussed.
Asked whether Mr Eroglu has accepted everything agreed between President Christofias and the former Turkish Cypriot leader Mr Mehmet Ali Talat, the President of the Republic said: “You have heard Mr Downer’s statement. He said that we reconfirmed the convergences achieved so far.”
