Cyprus-Forum.com

[Kikapu]

Since Halil posts a lot of News from the "TRNC" on Cyprus and Turkey, I thought I will do the same also, but from respected International News Sources.

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Turkish Cypriot leader sees 'new era' in Christofias's election

Bloomberg News, Reuters, The Associated PressPublished: February 25, 2008

NICOSIA: Demetris Christofias's victory in the presidential election opens a "new era" in relations between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots, the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, Mehmet Ali Talat, said Monday.

Talat spoke with Christofias, the communist leader who won the election Sunday, and agreed to meet as soon as possible, without setting a date.

"This is a new era," Talat said Monday in Nicosia. "We're ready and willing to work with all our hearts and together to achieve a solution that is acceptable to both people, based on UN parameters."

Talat said he expected the United Nations to send a mission to Cyprus at the end of March that would pave the way for the resumption of talks. He expressed hope that a solution can be reached by the end of the year. "I believe that it won't be a surprise if we solve the problem by the end of 2008," he said.

Christofias, who ran for office in the southern Greek Cypriot part of the island, won 53.4 percent of the vote, beating Ioannis Kasoulides. Christofias, 61, vowed to step up efforts to reunify the island, which has been divided since Turkey invaded its northern part in 1974 in response to a coup by supporters of union with Greece.

Christofias said Monday that he was committed to seeking a settlement but that the key to a deal was in Ankara.

"We are full of good will to break the deadlock to solve the Cyprus problem," Christofias said. "Turkey, however, is the occupying force, and that is the crux of the Cyprus problem."

Christofias said Turkey should allow a solution, adding, "Otherwise, as much good will as Christofias and Talat and anyone else here has, we will again remain in a deadlock."

Only Turkey recognizes the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. After Palestine and Kashmir, the Cyprus conflict is the third oldest for the United Nations, which has kept a peacekeeping force deployed between the Greek and Turkish parts of the island since 1964.

A solution in Cyprus would also remove one obstacle to Turkey's campaign to join the European Union. The EU in 2006 slowed the pace of membership talks with Turkey, demanding the country open its harbors and airports to Greek Cypriot ships and planes.

Turkey says it will not lift the restrictions unless the EU ends a similar embargo on Northern Cyprus, as the bloc pledged after Turkish Cypriots agreed to the UN plan in 2004.

"Your election offers the opportunity to overcome the longstanding stalemate on the Cyprus issue," the European Commission president, José Barroso, said Monday in an e-mailed message to Christofias. "I would strongly encourage you to grasp this chance."

Christofias's Progressive Party of the Working People is the country's biggest party and has historically had good relations with the Turkish Cypriots.

Talks to reunite Cyprus have effectively been on hold since 2004, when President Tassos Papadopoulos led Greek Cypriot opposition to the 2004 UN-brokered plan that would have given Turkish Cypriots more land and power than their 20 percent weighting in the population. Papadopoulos was knocked out of the race in a first round of elections on Feb. 17. Turkish Cypriots voted for the plan.

Christofias said the 2004 UN plan was now off the table and the two sides must discuss all aspects of the division.

"We are committed to a bizonal, bicommunal federation, based on UN resolutions, international law, European law and high-level agreements between the two communities," he said.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband of Britain said the Christofias victory "generated a renewed sense of hope - among both communities on the island - that progress toward a comprehensive settlement can be achieved during 2008."

Christofias met with the British high commissioner, Peter Millett, on Monday morning.

The commissioner emphasized that "neither the U.K. nor the international community want to impose a solution on Cyprus," adding that "it is incumbent on the two communities to work together under the UN auspices."

Christofias will take over from Papadopoulos on Feb. 28.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/25/ ... cyprus.php

[halil]

why not Kikapu , let the people to hear from other sources as well .
to call it propaganda doesnt help at all . with more sources ,with more views we can learn more and think again and again.
respected news sources Kikapu , i lough ...... we are here mate we see everything we slept with it and wake up with it .

[Kikapu]

Cyprus' new president pledges to pursue peace talks with Turkish Cypriots

The Associated PressPublished: February 28, 2008



NICOSIA, Cyprus: New Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias said Thursday that his government's first priority will be to negotiate a settlement to reunify the island, which was divided by war more than three decades ago.

Christofias, who heads the communist-rooted AKEL party, said new talks with the rival Turkish Cypriot community would also be aimed at demilitarizing Cyprus.

"It is my life's vision to reach a just and viable solution," Christofias said during a swearing-in ceremony in parliament.

Cyprus has been divided into a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north and internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south since 1974, when Turkey invaded after a coup attempting to unite the island with Greece.

Talks halted after Greek Cypriots rejected a United Nations reunification plan in a 2004 referendum. Turkish Cypriots backed the blueprint.

Within hours of his election, Christofias promised to swiftly restart stalled talks with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, who agreed to the meeting and said a reunification deal could be reached by the end of 2008.

No date has been set for the talks.

"I firmly believe the time has come for the problem to be solved ... and for the principles of international law to be restored," Christofias said, outlining policies for his five-year term.

"I address our Turkish Cypriot compatriots to assure them ... that I will work so they can enjoy all the rights as equal citizens of a united federal Republic of Cyprus."

Christofias, 61, won after two rounds of voting on Feb. 24 and was sworn in at a special session of parliament.

EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou was named foreign minister in the new 11-member Cabinet. Kyprianou, the first commissioner appointed by Cyprus since it joined the European Union in 2004, resigned the Brussels post Thursday.

Charilaos Stavrakis, chairman of state-owned Electricity Authority, will take over at the Finance Ministry. Five Cabinet posts went to members of centrist and Socialist parties that provided vital campaign support.

The Soviet-educated Christofias also sought to dispel concern over the island's economy, and pledged to maintain centrist policies.

"Our economic program ... is based on a combination of entrepreneurship and social cohesion," he told parliament. "Our policies will seek to gradually eradicate poverty and improve the quality of life."

Christofias is Cyprus' sixth president since independence from British colonial rule in 1960.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/ ... sident.php

[Sotos]

Halil is floating the forum with propaganda bullshit lately. He calls Ali Toilet as "President" and he refers to the real president of the whole Cyprus as "Mr. Christofias". This fucker is paid by Bayrak to post his crap here!!

[Kikapu]

why not Kikapu , let the people to hear from other sources as well .
to call it propaganda doesnt help at all . with more sources ,with more views we can learn more and think again and again.
respected news sources Kikapu , i lough ...... we are here mate we see everything we slept with it and wake up with it .

Halil, you must have Propaganda on your brain, because I never used the word PROPAGANDA in my above post. I said respected International News Sources.

[Sotos]

why not Kikapu , let the people to hear from other sources as well .
to call it propaganda doesnt help at all . with more sources ,with more views we can learn more and think again and again.
respected news sources Kikapu , i lough ...... we are here mate we see everything we slept with it and wake up with it .

Halil, you must have Propaganda on your brain, because I never used the word PROPAGANDA in my above post. I said respected International News Sources.

He knows that what he writes is propaganda. He doesn't need us to tell him. Who else would call Ali Toilet as "president" and the real president as "Mr. Christofias"??

[halil]

Halil is floating the forum with propaganda bullshit lately. He calls Ali Toilet as "President" and he refers to the real president of the whole Cyprus as "Mr. Christofias". This fucker is paid by Bayrak to post his crap here!!

he is our president ..........

there is no differences kikapu posting and mine . all the targets are same . you can get upset by writing President Talat . Who cares.
sutiation at the moment both sides are not recongnise eachother . Till they find solution it will be like that . i dont get upset when people writes TRNC in inverted comas . this is our realities in Cyprus. and will be like that till the solution. And dont swear the others . it shows your character.

[Kikapu]

AP Interview: Turkish Cypriot leader warns failure could lead to permanent partition

The Associated PressPublished: February 26, 2008



NICOSIA, Cyprus: The election of a new president in Cyprus could bring a solution by the end of the year to the island's decades-long partition, but failure now could leave it divided forever, the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state's leader said.

Mehmet Ali Talat said the Turkish Cypriot side was willing to be flexible.

"We are ready to find a solution to this problem. We will be flexible, we will work in good faith and we will be always active," he told The Associated Press Monday. "We believe that a solution is possible ... for the benefit of both the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots."

Peace talks to reunite the strategically located war-divided island have been stalled for years. But Dimitris Christofias, who won a crucial presidential election runoff Sunday, has pledged to quickly meet with Talat.

"It is very possible to find a solution by the end of the year," Talat said.

Christofias, a 61-year-old Soviet-educated history professor, heads a party that grew out of Cyprus' outlawed communist party in the 1940s. He and Talat, 55, share the same left-wing political ideology, and have enjoyed friendly relations in the past.

No date has been set for a meeting, but "at least he is somebody who is not denying the role of the Turkish Cypriot leader in a solution and he doesn't deny to meet the Turkish Cypriot leader," Talat said in an interview in his office across the Green Line in Nicosia, Europe's last divided capital.

"Whereas his predecessor was ... directly declining to meet. Even to have a coffee."

The outgoing president, Tassos Papadopoulos, was instrumental in the Greek Cypriot rejection of a U.N. reunification plan in 2004. The Turkish Cypriots approved the plan in a separate referendum.

Papadopoulos was ousted in a surprise result to the first round of the presidential election on Feb. 17, and Christofias' election has injected optimism into the moribund peace process.

But Talat warned of dangers ahead.

"I want to be (an) optimist. There are reasons to be (an) optimist," he said. "But of course we will see ... everybody has to be very careful in order to lead the people.

"The leaders have to take responsibility, otherwise after many efforts ... again we may face another referendum failure. And if it happens again, nobody can think of the reunification of the island again."

Talat said he envisaged a solution that would be similar to the U.N. peace plan that 76 percent of Greek Cypriots rejected in 2004.

"The Greek Cypriots changed their leader. I think they are looking for a change of policy also," he said.

But it might not be that simple.

Greek Cypriots may have ousted Papadopoulos in an election result seen largely as a rejection of his handling of reunification efforts, but they will need to be convinced that a new plan would work.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/ ... priots.php

[Kikapu]

Greek, Turkish Cypriot leaders to meet this month, U.N. says

The Associated Press Published: March 3, 2008

NICOSIA, Cyprus: Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders plan to meet before the end of the month to restart stalled reunification talks, the United Nations' representative on the island, Michael Moller, said Monday.

"Now we will begin preparations for this meeting, possibly towards the end of the second half of this month," Moller said after talks with newly elected Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias.

No specific date has been set for a meeting between Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, Moller said.

High on the meeting's agenda will be the opening of a crossing point at Nicosia's Ledra Street, a busy pedestrian thoroughfare divided in the early 1960s following the outbreak of fighting between the two warring communities.

Ledra Street has come to embody the island's division and its opening would be a highly symbolic goodwill gesture and could serve as a launch pad for reunification talks.

Moller said Christofias and Talat would discuss Ledra Street at their meeting and did not rule out a crossing point opening before the end of March.

"I'm trying to make sure that it can happen before the end of the month ... I hope that very soon we will be able to give you some good news," Moller said.

Government spokesman Stephanos Stephanou said Christofias told Moller he wanted an "exploratory" meeting with Talat "as soon as possible".

The spokesman said Christofias also told the UN officials he was prepared to open crossing points at both Ledra Street and Limnitis to the northwest of the island.

"Among our priorities, beyond the opening of Ledra Street ... is the issue of Limnitis. How we will handle these issues and how they will unfold" is something that can be dealt with in the future, Stephanou said.

Ledra Street and Limnitis would be the sixth and seventh crossing points connecting the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north and the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south.

Five others have opened since April 2003, when a groundswell of Turkish Cypriot anger over decades of isolation forced Turkish Cypriot authorities to open crossings to the south.

The island has been divided since 1974, following a Turkish invasion sparked by a coup attempting to unite the island with Greece.

Talks stalled after Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N. reunification plan in a 2004 referendum. Turkish Cypriots backed the plan.

Christofias was elected Feb. 24, and within hours moved to restart talks with Talat. Talat agreed to the meeting. Talat has said he believes a reunification deal could be reached by the end of the year. Christofias said the island's reunification would be his government's "top priority."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/ ... -Talks.php

[Kikapu]

UPDATE: UN Says Rival Cyprus Leaders To Meet In March - AFP


NICOSIA (AFP)--Leaders of the rival Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities are expected to meet later this month in a fresh drive to reunify the divided Mediterranean island, the top U.N. official in Cyprus said on Monday.

After his first meeting with the island's new President Demetris Christofias, U.N. chief of mission Michael Moller said no date had yet been fixed for the meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat but that he expected it to be later in March.

"We are preparing for a meeting between Mr. Christofias and Mr. Talat before the end of this month," Moller told AFP.

"We are working for a meeting for the second half of March. There are no specific dates yet."

The victory of communist leader Christofias in a presidential election last month has raised hopes of a new drive to end Cyprus's 34-year-old division.

His hardline predecessor Tassos Papadopoulos had led Greek Cypriots in rejecting a U.N. reunification plan in a 2004 referendum and talks went nowhere during his term of office.

Christofias was elected on a platform of intensifying negotiations with the Turkish Cypriots and has vowed since taking office last week to meet Talat as soon as possible.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the new president to make a good will gesture to help rebuild confidence, something the international community has also been pushing, and Sunday Christofias said he was ready to push for a comprehensive settlement.

"My reply to Mr. Erdogan is that we are more than ready, if Turkey is also ready, to find a solution," he said Sunday.

Christofias said he accepted the principle of a federation between the island's two communities but said a deal also needed to end the Turkish occupation of the north.

He said he wanted a settlement "which will end the occupation and will restore the country's independence, territorial integrity, the unity of the Republic of Cyprus in the framework of a federation and human rights of all Cypriots."

The Cypriot president said that he was also willing to consider the opening of two more crossing points across the U.N.-patrolled Green Line that divides the island.


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