Cyprus is a modern EU state and once its political problem is resolved, it will not need any obsolete methods and practices such as guarantees, Deputy Spokesman Victoras Papadopoulos has said.
Referring to meetings President Nicos Anastasiades will have in September in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Papadopoulos noted that Anastasiades is expected to have meetings at the highest possible level with a US government official as well as officials of other Security Council member states, which play a pivotal role in the Cyprus problem.
The deputy spokesman dismissed once again the possibility of holding a multilateral conference on the Cyprus problem in New York.
He pointed out that President Anastasiades will visit New York as the head of state to attend the UN General Assembly.
On the resumption on Tuesday of meetings between the negotiators of the two sides in Cyprus, Andreas Mavroyiannis and Ozdil Nami, Papadopoulos said that the negotiators have entered into intensive contacts, aiming to prepare the ground for the meeting between President Anastasiades and the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci on September 1st.
He added that the agenda of the leaders` meeting includes the issues of properties and territory, noting that the two interlocutors could raise issues regarding governance as well.
Responding to a question, Papadopoulos said that no issue has closed yet and discussions are under way, “but the agenda of the next meeting includes the property and the territory issues, and when speaking about the territory issue we mean the criteria relating to territory.”
He recalled that an agreement has already been announced on the issue property, which recognises the right to ownership, adding that “now all the rest will be discussed, the mechanisms and the criteria.”
Asked about the possibility of President Anastasiades meeting US President Barack Obama, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Papadopoulos said that there is no such an issue right now.
On the issue of guarantees, Papadopoulos said that it is the long-standing position of the Greek Cypriot side that there should be no guarantors for a modern European state.
“Cyprus is a modern state in the EU and once the Cyprus problem is solved, we do not need such obsolete methods and practices,” he stressed.
Papadopoulos noted that President Anastasiades met on Monday with former President George Vassiliou and on Tuesday with former President Demetris Christofias, whom he briefed on developments in the Cyprus problem.
Anastasiades received this morning EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides and later on a delegation of the Cyprus Federation of America visiting Cyprus to attend the overseas Cypriots conference.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. UN-led talks aiming to reunite the island under a federal roof resume in May 2015