National Council welcomes agreement on technical committees

The National Council on Friday welcomed the agreement reached on Saturday July 8th between the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus, in the presence of UN Undersecretary General for political affairs, Ibrahim Gambari.

The National Council is made up of pary leaders and former presidents and is supposed to be the top advisory body to the President of Cyprus regarding the Cyprus question, although the president has no obligation to follow its advice.

The Council, whic convened on Friday without the main opposition party DISY, assessed the latest developments in the Cyprus issue and reaffirmed its political will to contribute to the effective implementation of the agreement.

DISY withdrew from the National Council earlier this year, complaining about its views being leaked to the press in a distorting way.

It refuses to return until it is satsified that this issue has been addressed.

President Tassos Papadopoulos briefed the members of the Council on his meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat for the missing persons issue, on the talks he held with Gambari, on the common meeting with Talat in the presence of Gambari, as well as on his trip to Athens.

Regarding the meetings with Turkish Cypriots, Government spokesman Christodoulos Pashiardis said “Our side has started to commit to paper the day-to-day issues and the issues regarding the substance of the Cyprus problem. We are also in contact with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Cyprus, Michael Moller.”