Question: Just a bit more about what the Secretary General is willing to do with the coming out of the talks tomorrow on Cyprus . Specifically if a deal is able to be reached and planned to go to referenda, does he imagine that it would be possible to leave some issues unresolved that could be sorted out after join the EU? [Read more…]

Q:    Mr. Secretary-General, on the subject of your talks tomorrow on Cyprus , just a couple of little things.  One, sir can you give us a statement on what you hope to accomplish, what the best case scenario would be, whether these talks might continue in Cyprus in the region with Mr. [Alvaro] de Soto.  [Read more…]

The Secretary General wrote today to the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders inviting them to come to New York on February 10th 2004 to resume negotiations on the basis of his plan. The objective of the negotiations would be to put his plan’s completed text to referenda in April 2004, in time for reunited Cyprus to join the European Union on 1 May 2004. [Read more…]

“We had a very good meeting with the Secretary General and I want to tell you that we appealed to the Secretary General that he may immediately call the talks. And I repeated that we are ready to take part in these talks for reaching a comprehensive, self-executive agreement the soonest possible. [Read more…]

A solution is urgently needed in Cyprus; a functional and viable solution that will meet the aspirations of all Cypriots, restore their human rights to the standards required by the Council of Europe, reinforce their sense of security and enable them to prosper within the European Union. [Read more…]

EU PRESIDENT: …And obviously in relation we discussed other issues — Iraq, Afghanistan, Cyprus, North Korea, Burma and other regional issues which were, we were very happy to have the assessment of the UN Secretary-General on those matters.

Q: I would like to ask the Secretary-General with regard to the Cyprus question, what would you like the European Union presidency to do during the next few months and what will be consequence of missing the May 1st deadline? [Read more…]

EC PRESIDENT: When it comes to Europe, the one issue where the UN plays a crucial role is Cyprus. I thanked the Secretary-General for his effort to promote a comprehensive settlement and for excellent cooperation between his Organization and the Commission. I recently had very intensive discussions with Prime Minister Erdogan in Ankara. [Read more…]

The Secretary-General was encouraged by the constructive exchange he had today with the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on the subject of Cyprus, in which the Prime Minister indicated his government’s strong desire for the Turkish Cypriots to resume talks with the Greek Cypriots with a view to resolving outstanding issues by 1 May. [Read more…]

QUESTION: (Inaudible – on Cyprus )

SECRETARY-GENERAL: We did discuss Cyprus . We discussed the question of the reunification of the island. I made it clear to my good friend the Foreign Minister that my good offices are still available, provided the parties show their willingness and the will to move forward and settle their differences. As you are aware, we have made proposals to the parties last year. [Read more…]

Let me start with a slightly different spot in the way Phil and Peter and Savvas have set this up because I really want to share with you a slightly different perspective to begin with and then we will do the other one. Too often this whole issue is Cyprus and the word that immediately follows Cyprus 99% of the time is ‘problem’. And I don’t want to start it there. [Read more…]