The President of the Republic will not put to a referendum a solution plan which he himself disagrees with and which he believes does not meet the expectations of the people, Government Spokesman Nicos Christodoulides has stressed, reiterating that the ultimate goal is a political settlement that would reunite Cyprus, divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion.
“We are all working towards this common objective. The successful outcome of the negotiations will be a success for everybody, failure to achieve this goal will be negative for all,” he said in statements to the press after a memorial church service, in Nicosia.
Today, the spokesman said in his eulogy at the service, “there are some elements which allow us to hope for a positive outcome of the talks, at long last. The current negotiations are perhaps the most important opportunity in the recent past to reunite Cyprus.”
Referring to the negotiations in his remarks to the press, he said they are difficult, and on Monday the negotiators of the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot sides will begin the discussion on the criteria governing the property issue, one of the main aspects of the Cyprus question.
“It would be wrong to take a stance on a solution plan which we have not yet seen, with a yes or a no. We must be serious and work towards bringing a plan with will will meet the expectations of the people and will be accepted. I can assure you that this is what the President aims at,” Christodoulides added.
UN-led negotiations between the leaders of the island`s two communities, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, resumed in May this year with a view to finding a political settlement to reunite the country.
CNA – Nicosia 06/09/2015 13:40