House speaker warns of dangers over Cyprus issue

There is a clear danger either for the Greek Cypriot side to be forced to take part in an international conference on the Cyprus issue, that will function as a tool for arbitration, or for declaring a stalemate in the negotiations, for which both sides will be blamed on an equal footing, House President Yiannakis Omirou warned on Friday.
He underlined that it is time to establish a new sound basis for the negotiations, as provided by the joint communique of the National Council (top advisory body to the President of the Republic on the handling of the Cyprus problem), issued in September 2009. Moreover, he expressed the belief that the Cyprus problem is now in a much worse phase than when UN-led direct negotiations began in September 2008.
The National Council had stressed in September 2009 that there must be restoration of the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and unity of the Republic of Cyprus, noting that there can be no guarantors or guarantees for the united Republic of Cyprus, an EU member state. It had also said that the settlement of the Cyprus problem must be achieved through an agreement between the leaders of the two sides and not be imposed from outside, and rejected any form of settlement that will legalize the status quo or will constitute a two-state settlement.
Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu are due to meet with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the end of January in Green Tree, to discuss progress achieved in the talks so far. A casual meeting on Thursday night in the mixed village of Pyla drew criticism from all Greek Cypriot parties, saying the dinner in a Greek Cypriot restaurant followed by coffee in a Turkey Cypriot restaurant showed how far both sides are on agreeing on such a simple matter.