Russian President, Vladimir Putin, pointing out that the economic isolation imposed upon the TRNC was unjust, said Russia supported a Cyprus settlement in line with the Annan Plan.

Referring to a Cyprus settlement and ending the TRNC's isolation, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said there were no changes to the Annan Plan and the process was continuing, He said the Turkish side had not changed its position and the Cyprus issue should be settled under the auspices of the UN, not the EU.

Prime Minister Erdogan and a group of Turkish businessmen, who are on an official visit to Russia, yesterday (11 January) met with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, at the President Hotel in Moscow and speaking during the meeting Putin said Russia supported the Cyprus settlement plan prepared by the UN Secretary-General and would continue to support the Secretary-General's efforts and the plan that would settle the Cyprus issue. Putin added that this also included the continuation of economic relations and lifting the TRNC's isolation.

Asked what Russia's stance would be when the UN Secretary-General's Cyprus report was submitted to the UN Security Council and if any concrete steps would be taken for North Cyprus, Putin said:

"We voted in the Security Council before the referendum in Cyprus because we wanted to prevent any outside interference during the referendum. We consulted with the UN Secretary-General and I informed him that I supported his efforts in settling the Cyprus issue. We support a settlement in line with the Annan Plan. We think that the economic isolation imposed on the TRNC is unjust. Cyprus is an old and sensitive issue and we need to act carefully and with sensitivity. We actively support Mr. Annan's plan and will vote according to the document that will be submitted to the Commission".

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the TRNC Chamber for Industry, Salih Tunar, who is also in Russia with Prime Minister Erdogan's delegation, calling upon Turkish businessmen, said although the Turkish Cypriot side had voted 'yes' to the Annan Plan and displayed its will towards a settlement the isolation were still continuing. Tunar said that the Turkish Cypriots wanted the isolation to end and contribute to world peace.

Within the framework of studies carried out by the TRNC's Autonomous Missing Persons Committee to identify the graves of the missing persons in Cyprus, diggings started last week by a team of experts from the 'Inforce' forensic group based in the U.K, has produced no results.

Following the first digging that was started on 5 January at Kizilbas in Lefkosa, where the Turkish Cypriot side predicted one of the three graves would be, the final digging was carried out yesterday (11 January) but, there was no evidence to suggest that there was a grave there.

Rustem Tatar, a Turkish Cypriot member of the Autonomous Missing Persons Committee said diggings carried out in the area by the 'Inforce' team had ended and no graves had been found.