Government Spokesman Nikos Christodoulides said on Sunday that the coming period will be decisive as regards the course of the UN-led Cyprus peace talks, adding that current conditions “allow us to be cautiously optimistic”.
In statements after a memorial service, Christodoulides said that today, maybe for the first time, Turkey could be able, by thinking rationaly, to understand the benefits it will enjoy from a settlement of the Cyprus problem.
The spokesman said that during their first and second meetings, after the summer break, on September 1 and September 14, the two leaders in Cyprus, namely Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, will focus on the property issue. He added that any progress in this issue will be decisive with regard to how things will develop.
“We remain committed to the need for hard work and tough negotiations,” he added, noting that the result “will depend on the commitment of the involved parties. The next few months, the next period will determine how the whole effort will proceed,” he said.
He added that as soon as there`s an agreement in any subject at the talks, the President will inform the Cypriot people about it.
He also said that the criteria on the property issue will also be discussed after the agreement reached between the two sides on the individual right to property. The Greek Cypriot side, he said, submitted a number of categories of the affected people. He also said that property criteria are going to dominate the discussions during the next period. He added that an agreement on the criteria, will constitute the mandate of the Commission that will be asked to take decisions on this issue.
Invited to comment on the document released by the Turkish permanent representation in the UN, on behalf of the Turkish Cypriot puppet regim,e which described the Republic of Cyprus as “long-defunct”, the Spokesman said that despite the fact that this letter is circulated as a “usual” response to Cyprus` complaints to the UN over violations of its airspace by Turkish warplanes, “it`s definitely not something that contributes positively to the current effort,” for a settlement in Cyprus.
“Our effort is to end this kind of behaviours,” he said, adding that President Anastasiades may raise the issue during his tete-a-tete meeting with the Turkish Cypriot leader on Tuesday.
At the same time he noted that the UN-led dialogue on the Cyprus problem is based on the High Level Agreements of 1977 and 1979, the relevant UN resolutions, the 8th July agreement and the February 2014 Joint Declaration of the two sides in Cyprus.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Anastasiades and Akinci are currently engaged in UN-backed peace talks to reunite the island under a federal roof.