Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Monday that only through dialogue and the agreed framework for resolving the Cyprus problem can the concerns of both communities in Cyprus be addressed and expressed hope that the Turkish Cypriot leader will reconsider and accept the UN Secretary General’s proposal for a joint meeting.
The Spokesman was asked by journalists about a tripartite meeting in New York. In statements at the Presidential Palace, he recalled that the President of the Republic had said at the anti-occupation event of the Municipality of Famagusta last week, that he had been sounded out about a specific date, August 13.
Unfortunately, he said, yesterday we heard the statements of the Turkish Cypriot leader, who once again rejected the possibility of a joint meeting with the President of the Republic, in the presence of the UN Secretary General.
Letymbiotis expressed hope that Tatar would change his mind and accept this joint meeting, pointing out that the government has been stres
sing from the very beginning of assuming office the great importance of such a meeting in the efforts to restart the negotiations.
Only through dialogue, he added, the concerns of both the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriots can be addressed within the agreed framework.
He said that the concerns and positions, which Tatar puts forward, “unfortunately exist to this day and he refuses even a joint meeting in the presence of the UN General Secretary.”
“We sincerely hope that he reconsiders this position and finally accepts it. We are at the disposal of the UN Secretary General. It is for this reason that the President of the Republic responded positively from the first moment and to this invitation, we are at the disposal of the UN Secretary General if this opportunity arises, of course to respond positively again”, he said.
Replying to a journalist’s remark that the two leaders were sounded out about the meeting and there was no invitation, the Spokesman said that this was the case and that the President of
the Republic was clear about it.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed last January María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar of Colombia as his personal envoy for Cyprus, to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf and search for common ground on the way forward in the Cyprus issue.
Source : Cyprus News Agency