UK supports efforts for a Cyprus settlement

The UK government remains committed to supporting UN efforts to achieve a settlement in Cyprus, based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, a spokesman for the British High Commission said here today.

“It is for Cypriots themselves to agree on the shape of any eventual settlement but the UK stands ready to offer support to all parties,” the spokesman added, according to a press release issued by the Commission.

The spokesman was commenting on today's decision by President Demetris Christofias and the Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat to begin full-fledged negotiations on September 3 aiming at reaching a mutually acceptable solution to the Cyprus problem.

The talks aim to reunite Cyprus, which has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion.