President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades briefed parliamentary party leaders on Tuesday on the various issues examined at the ongoing UN-led peace talks, assuring at the same time that when issues are agreed at the negotiating table, the people will be promptly informed.
The President presided over a meeting with the party leaders, at the Presidential Palace.
In his remarks to reporters after the meeting, Government Spokesman Nikos Christodoulides said President Anastasiades “presented a comprehensive and most detailed briefing as to where we are right now on the various issues that are being discussed at the negotiating table”.
He said the President replied to questions by the leaders or representatives of the parliamentary parties. “The negotiation is of course an evolving process, we still have a long way to go in this effort. On our part, we remain serious, committed to the need for hard work and negotiation, in order for those conditions to be created that will allow us to have a positive outcome towards the direction of achieving what I would call, the common goal, which is none other than ending the occupation and reunifying our homeland.”
Regarding the issue of property and the criteria pertaining to it, the Spokesman repeated the Greek Cypriot side`s position that “the lawful owner has the first say in the property”. He urged everybody not to make assumptions on issues that are on the negotiating table.
He said the President has made it clear to all parliamentary parties that they can be informed at any time by the negotiator on the documents on the negotiating table and anything exchanged between the two sides.
“We have some distance to go. If there are conditions that lead to the conclusion of some important issues, of course, the President will immediately make relevant statements” on the matter, the Spokesman added.
He emphasised that the President will not present to the people of Cyprus a plan which he himself does not agree with or which does not correspond to the peoples` expectations. “We hope to reach a solution and rest assured that the necessary time will be given so that the Cypriot people, who will have the final say and will vote on its provisions, will not have the slightest doubts (as to its contents), Christodoulides added.
UN-backed negotiations between the leaders of the island`s two communities resumed in May this year, with a view to find a political settlement to reunite the country under a federal roof.
