The Greek Cypriot side supports the effort of the UN Secretary-General’s Persoval Envoy, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar to find common ground for the resumption of direct negotiations, Deputy Government Spokesman Yiannis Antoniou said on Saturday.
He made the remark while addressing the second annual Conference on “1974: Aspects of then, implications of today”, held at the “Theophilos Georgiades” Conference Hall of the Press and Information Office and co-organised by the Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies of the University of Cyprus and the Turkish Affairs Section of the Press and Information Office (PIO).
An official press release said Antoniou conveyed the unwavering commitment of President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides to the effort to seek a solution to the Cyprus problem through a substantive dialogue, under UN auspices.
“The Greek Cypriot side supports the effort of the UN Secretary General’s envoy to find common ground for the resumption of direct negotiations. It is our belief t
hat the solution of the political problem, in an EU member state, will be for the benefit of all affected parties…”, he added.
The workshop was held in Greek and Turkish with the participation of Turkish Cypriot journalists and academics.
Addressing the conference, the Director of the Press and Information Office, Aliki Stylianou said that developments in Turkey and within the Turkish Cypriot community, during the 50 years that have passed since the coup d’état and the July Turkish invasion of 1974, “have always been and continue to be one of the most fundamental areas of engagement of the PIO and the Turkish Affairs department and in collaboration with the Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies of the University of Cyprus”.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. UN S
ecretary General Antonio Guterres appointed Holguín in January as his personal envoy for Cyprus, to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf and search for common ground on the way forward in the Cyprus issue.
Source: Cyprus News Agency