Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides expressed hope on Tuesday that a positive result will emerge at the informal trilateral dinner with the Turkish Cypriot leader, on October 15, in New York, in the presence of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, adding that the only positive result is the resumption of settlement talks from the point they were interrupted.
“We hope to have a positive result and the only positive result is the prospect of resuming talks from where they were interrupted, on the basis of the agreed framework,” the President stated.
Asked before attending an event at the state broadcaster CyBC, in Nicosia, about possible concerns or pitfalls in relation to the meeting, the President said that “we know what we are aiming at through this dinner, we know what our goal is. We know where we end up. We are confident; we know what our lines are, and we attend the dinner – a dinner which is made possible through our own actions – in order to get a positive result.”
On another question about his visit to London, which will precede his New York trip, and whether he will discuss with British Premier Keir Starmer the Cyprus issue and the possibility of convening a quadrilateral meeting (which also includes the UK, along with Greece and Turkey), President Christodoulides replied that a discussion about the Cyprus issue and this particular possibility was certain.
“I don’t want to predetermine things; we will see how the dinner goes with the UN Secretary-General. I said many times and I would like to repeat it, that we hope to have a positive result. The only positive result that may arise is the prospect of resuming talks from where they were interrupted, on the basis of the agreed framework,” he noted.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
Source: Parikiaki.com
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