Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the rotating EU Term Presidency, said he "welcomes the positive replies from the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities to the proposals suggested by UN Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari in his letter of Nov. 16."
"We look forward to the early start of the work by the bicommunal technical committees and ... working groups on substantive issues," Tuomioja said in a statement. "It's important that this work proceeds quickly to prepare the ground for the resumption of talks on a comprehensive settlement."
In a letter last week, Gambari had urged Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders to implement a July 8 agreement to start two-tier negotiations that would eventually lead to comprehensive talks.
On Monday, both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides responded positively to Gambari's letter but Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Mehmet Ali Talat expressed some concerns about it, complaining that the letter contained "ambiguities" without determining exact dates for the upcoming meetings and that it did not "preclude possible delaying tactics by the Greek Cypriot side."
"These positive replies from the two leaders are encouraging also as regards the Finnish EU Presidency's ongoing talks, which aim at finding a solution that would enable the uninterrupted continuation of Turkey's EU accession negotiations and improve the situation of both communities in Cyprus," Tuomioja's statement said. "A successful conclusion of our talks would be a major positive step forward in support of the bicommunal talks and the UN efforts towards comprehensive settlement."
P5 warm to positive reply to Gambari's suggestions
Permanent members of the UN Security Council ambassadors in Nicosia welcomed yesterday the positive response by the leaders of the two Cypriot communities to the suggestions put forward by the UN Undersecretary-General Gambari.
Underlining the importance of the principles agreed by both sides on July 8 and the need to address all the relevant issues including those that affect the day-to-day life of the people, issues of substance and confidence-building measures, the ambassadors said they shared the secretary-general's hope that the process will be fully utilized to prepare the ground for the resumption of fully-fledged negotiations aimed at a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem.
"We look forward to early progress in all these areas and we join the secretary-general in his call on the participants in the process to demonstrate the necessary political will and flexibility to bridge the gap between words and deeds," the statement said, while expressing readiness of P5 to offer all support as necessary.
The New Anatolian / Helsinki
24 November 2006
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