Cyprus leader seeks input from more UNSC countries

Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos has called for more of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to get involved in the Cyprus problem, presumably in the hope that he can dilute the influence of Britain and the US, which Greek Cypriots normally view as being pro-Turkish.

The other three permanent members are Russia, China and France.

Papadopoulos repeated these comments during his working visit to Moscow.

“We want all permanent members of the Security Council to be involved” in the effort for achieving a solution to the Cyprus problem, and not only two permanent members to be involved, Papadopoulos noted.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37 per cent of its territory.

Papadopoulos has insisted that the initiatives for new talks must come from the UN but also insists that they should be well prepared and that there should be no deadlines, a policy that has led his opponents to accuse him of preferring the status quo over any negotiated solution.