Greek Cypriots reply positively to Gambari

Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos said on Sunday that the Greek Cypriot side had replied positively on Friday to a letter sent to the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus by UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari to promote the implementation of the July 8 agreement.

President Papadopoulos furthermore expressed doubts about the real intentions of the Turkish Cypriot side.

Replying to questions, President Papadopoulos said the reply was sent two days ago and that ”our response was positive.”

Asked if he had any information about the reply of the Turkish Cypriot side, President Papadopoulos said he did not but noted that he had heard that the Turkish Cypriot side had expressed certain reservations.

”I don’t think they have much room to say no,” the President added but noted that ”it is one thing to reply positively and another to become involved in practice in substantive talks on the fundamental issues of the Cyprus problem in order to create the basis of a solution.”

President Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat agreed on July 8th 2006, during a meeting in the presence of Gambari, to begin a process of bicommunal discussions on issues that affect the day-to-day life of the people and concurrently those that concern substantive issues, both contributing to a comprehensive settlement to the Cyprus problem.

Following the agreement, senior aides of the two leaders in Cyprus, Tasos Tzionis and Rasit Pertev, began meetings in Moller’s office in the UN-controlled buffer zone to work out the modalities for the implementation of the July agreement.