Meeting fails to produce results due to Turkish intransigence...

Agamemnon

2007-09-05 21:45:50 UTC

PAPADOPOULOS - MEETING WITH TALAT

The Turkish Cypriot side has sought to bring about changes to a
UN-brokered agreement, it endorsed a year ago, demanding the immediate
start of talks and restricting the role of the committees, which should
be set up in line with the July agreement, Cyprus President Tassos
Papadopoulos has said.

Speaking after a three hour long meeting with the leader of the Turkish
Cypriot community Mehmet Ali Talat, Papadopoulos also said that
Wednesday`s meeting took place in a constructive spirit, adding that
contacts through the UN will continue to find a way out of this current
difficulty.

Mr Talat wanted to introduce changes to the Gambarri agreement, he
wanted talks to begin immediately without the committees or to restrict
the role of the committees only to a technical level of noting down the
titles of issues to be discussed, something which could not have
accelerated the process but on the contrary it would have led to an
early deadlock, President Papadopoulos said on his return to the
Presidential Palace, after his meeting with Talat at the residency of
the UN Secretary Generals Special Representative Michael Moller.

Papadopoulos and Talat agreed on July 8 last year, in the presence of
senior UN official Imbrahim Gambarri, to set up technical committees
and working groups to discuss issues that affect the day to day life of
the people and substantive issues of the question of Cyprus. Their top
aides, Tasos Tzionis and Rashid Pertev, have held over 50 meetings in
the past 14 months to this effect. So far, this has not been achieved.

The July 2006 agreement also provided for periodic meetings between
Papadopoulos and Talat to help push the process forward.

We discussed mainly the July agreement process, since this was the
issue at hand. We insisted on its speedy and unconditional
implementation because we believe this is a process that can push
forward in a positive manner the talks towards a comprehensive
settlement of the Cyprus questions on a new basis, the President
pointed out.

We believe that through our suggestions we would have shortened
considerably the time needed leading to substantive talks and the
solution of the Cyprus problem, he said.

The Greek Cypriot side, he added, insisted a great deal that the
committees should prepare the ground seriously and on condition that,
as stipulated in the Gambarri process, progress is achieved at the
level of the committees, the leaders of the two communities will meet
periodically to negotiate the points of dissent which the committees
will point out.

The President also said that Talat at todays meeting raised other
issues, not as part of the agenda but during the discussion.

Post by Agamemnon
...which will continue as long as Turkish troops are not forced to leave
Cyprus by the UN and EU powers as demanded by UN and EU resolutions.
PAPADOPOULOS - TALAT - MEETING
President of the Republic of Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish
Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat met on Wednesday in the presence of the
UN Secretary General`s Special Representative to Cyprus Michael Moller,
who said they ``held their discussions in a constructive atmosphere.``
In a statement after the meeting, Moller said ``they agreed on the need
for the earliest start of the process and discussed other issues
leading to a comprehensive settlement.``
``They agreed to continue their contact through the UN and to meet
again when appropriate,`` he concluded.
The meeting took place at Moller`s residence in Nicosia. It began at
16:10 and ended at 19:20 local time.
Following the statement by Moller, the leaders of the two communities
departed from the residence.