Cyprus issue in a preparatory stage, says President

A dinner, hosted by the UN on Thursday for President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, went well, the President has said.

He also said that right now the Cyprus issue is in a preparatory stage.

Asked if anything interesting had come out of the dinner, he said that things are interesting if there is good will, good effort and particularly “a well prepared effort”.

Right now, he added, “we are in a preparatory stage”.

Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu described the dinner and the chat “good”.

Asked whether there was any specific content in the discussion during the dinner, he referred journalists to a brief statement the UN Secretary General’s special advisor on Cyprus Alexander Downer made after the dinner.

Cyprus was divided in 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. UN-led talks over the years have not resulted in an agreed solution. The latest round of talks between Eroglu and Anastasiades` predecessor, Demetris Christofias, was halted by the Turkish Cypriot side in the summer of 2012.

This was the first encounter between President Anastasiades and Eroglu, since Anastasiades’ election in February.