Cyprus President thanks political parties for their support

Cyprus President Demetris Christofias has thanked the political parties which support his efforts to begin direct negotiations with the Turkish Cypriot community for a political settlement.

Christofias, who is currently having separate meetings with political party leaders, in view of his meeting Friday with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, refrained from any comment at this stage on his meetings with the six parliamentary parties.

“I would like to thank those who have expressed their support. At this stage, I do not wish to make any comment on my meetings, given that I have not concluded all the meetings,” he told the press on Wednesday evening, having met three parties.

Today he is meeting the Social Democrats EDEK, the European Party and the Ecologists.

In the past two days he has met AKEL, the Democratic Rally (DISY) and the Democratic Party (DIKO). The first two have given the President the green light to proceed to direct negotiations, DIKO will determine its stance today.

Friday’s meeting will be the fourth meeting between Christofias and Talat, in an effort to make headway towards the resumption of substantive negotiations, leading to a political settlement that will reunite Cyprus, which has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third.

Since their agreement in March this year, seven technical committees and six working groups, comprising experts from both communities, have been meeting to discuss various aspects of the Cyprus question, including governance, security, economy, health and EU matters, property and territory. Their goal is to prepare the ground for substantive negotiations between the two leaders.