Cypriot President ready to meet T/C leader

The government of Cyprus expressed its readiness on Thursday for a new meeting to take place between President of the Republic Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, with the aim to implement the July 8 Agreement.
Speaking to journalists after the cabinet meeting, Government Spokesman Vasilis Palmas said the position of the UN, the Security Council and the Republic of Cyprus “is clear, we have before us the Gambari Agreement, which outlines, at a procedural level, the preconditions to achieve progress and at the same time, a discussion to be held at the working groups to touch upon the substance of the Cyprus issue and then be led to an overall settlement”.
Palmas added “we are ready, to begin the process of the implementation of this agreement and to proceed with its substance” noting that the continued aim of the President of the Republic is the overall settlement of the Cyprus issue.
Asked whether Papadopoulos and Talat will meet again, following their encounter on 5 September, Palmas said that President Papadopoulos had proposed a meeting later this month but Talat has so far failed to make a commitment.
Palmas said Talat’s meeting with the UN Secretary – General will be held soon and “we repeat once again that we are ready in October, based on the President’s position, to meet with the aim to implement the procedure of the July 8 Agreement”
The UN agreement, brokered on July 8, of last year, was reached in Nicosia between President Papadopoulos and Talat, in the presence of then UN Undersecretary for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari.
The agreement provides for the setting up of technical committees and working groups to deal with day to day issues that affect the daily life of the people of Cyprus and core issues relating to the Cyprus problem, in order to prepare the ground for substantive negotiations leading to a solution, that would reunite the country, divided since Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern part.
They met again on 5 September 2007 in the presence of the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Cyprus Michael Moller.