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CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

President Papadopoulos: UNSG to undertake new initiative in 2008

Papadopoulos has said that UN Secretary General Ban Ki – moon considers as necessary to undertake a Cyprus initiative in 2008 and added that he has already determined six meetings between the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities. In statements last night before departing to Uganda for the Commonwealth Meeting, to take place November 23 – 25, Papadopoulos reiterated his adherence to the July 8th, 2006 Agreement saying that “it constitutes a concrete proposal” for a Cyprus solution. Invited to comment on information that the European Commission may consider the ports and airports in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus as “not illegal”, he replied: “there is no such issue. Any other interpretation is wrong, illegal and contrary to international law”. Referring to UNSG’s initiative, he said: “UNSG talked about the necessity for a new initiative in 2008 and determined six meetings between the leaders, which confirms our position that there is no importance attached in holding daily meetings without prior preparation of the working groups as provided in the July Agreement”, he said. The Greek Cypriot side, he continued, insists on the implementation of the Gambari process which “provides for discussion on matters of substance and through these for a comprehensive Cyprus solution”. “These are very important decisions, because they offer us the chance to negotiate the Cyprus problem with the other community. We have concrete proposals on each issue of substance and we hope that these negotiations will lead to an overall framework for a comprehensive Cyprus settlement. This is our policy, this is a concrete initiative with targeted goals and not a general and vague terminology that initiatives will be undertaken”, he added.