President Mehmet Ali Talat has said that he has ‘nearly’ reached an agreement with the Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias on setting a timetable for the start of direct negotiations.
In an interview to the Greek Cypriot Alithia newspaper, the President said that he had reached a common understanding with Christofias on having a bi-communal, bi-zonal federal solution on the basis of two founding states as a basis for a solution to the Cyprus Problem.
“It is quiet clear for me that this federation will be created from the so-called Cyprus Republic and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” he said.
The President also reminded that he had met with his Greek Cypriot counterpart on the 1st of July to fix a date for the start of direct talks but had failed to achieve this and had instead agreed to meet again on the 25th for further talks.
He also denied claims that he had told representatives of Turkish Cypriot political parties during a briefing that direct negotiations would start on the 1st of September.
“We have not made a decision yet with Mr. Christofias but we have almost reached an agreement regarding a timetable” he added.