TALAT PAPADOPOULOS MEETING
 

President Mehmet Ali Talat has said that he will meet with the  Greek Cypriot Leader Tasos Papadopoulos without setting any preconditions. He said “I hope to receive a positive outcome from the meeting”.

The President is going to meet with Mr Papadopoulos on the 5th of September at the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative to Cyprus Michale Moller’s residence in the UN-controlled buffer zone. 

Speaking to reporters at a meeting yesterday, the President pointed to the absence of a move aiming to provide a solution to the Cyprus problem. Reminding that the 8 July-agreement had been signed to break the deadlock being experienced on the Cyprus issue, and prepare a common ground for the solution, the President  pointed out that however, no progress had been achieved on the process  since the Greek Cypriot side   did not has the need for a solution.

Explaining that perceptional changes were taking place in the South as the elections approached, Mr Talat said he finally got a positive response from the South to the call he had been making for a very long time. Welcoming the Greek Cypriot Side’s response, President Mehmet Ali Talat stressed that his meeting with Mr Papadopoulos was organized with the aim of encouraging the start of comprehensive negotiations in a near future as this was set as the major goal with the 8 July Agreement.

‘As there has been a year of delay on the implementation of this goal, the best thing to do now is to give an accelerated start to comprehensive negotiations’ he added.

Responding to another question President Talat said during previous day’s meeting between the Presidential Undersecretary Rasit Pertev and the Greek Cypriot Administration Diplomatic Bureau Chief Tassos Djonis,  they did not take any decision to meet before the 5 September  meeting  for preparation.

President Talat stating that they received information from the Greek Cypriot press that  the Greek Cypriot  administration  was asking an agenda for 5 September meeting,  said  however, such a request was not conveyed  officially to Mr. Pertev. He added  “if there is  a need for an agenda  and a meeting is  envisaged for this  we  are ready. However, there are not any planned meeting now”.