A package of eight points was submitted by the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulidis, in the meeting he had on Monday morning with the Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, at the residence of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Cyprus, Colin Stewart, in the dead zone, in the area of the airport Nicosia.
In his statements to the journalists, at the Presidential Palace, after his return from the meeting, the President of the Republic said that "I submitted a package of proposals with eight points, eight features, concerning roadblocks and other ideas that I also discussed with the Secretary General of the UN in New York and the GG was positive".
As President Christodoulidis said, Mr. Tatar replied that he was unable to make decisions today. "I was ready, if there was a positive response, to proceed with the publication of all eight points of the package", he said.
As he clarified, the eight points he proposed are related to each other, "there is no choice, I choose one of the eight and we move forward", he noted.
As the President said, Mr. Tatar asked for time, as he was not able today to make decisions and make them public. Therefore, he noted, the two leaders "will meet again whenever Mr. Tatar".
Asked if the eight points refer to roadblocks that will be opened, the President of the Republic said that "I mentioned roadblocks but also other ideas, which we also discussed in New York, on my own initiative, when it was dinner, ideas in which the Secretary General was placed positively, but there was no positive response from Mr. Tatar".
He clarified that beyond the issue of roadblocks, the points proposed by the President include an Advisory Committee from Civil Society regarding the Cyprus issue, as well as a Truth Commission, and a Technical Committee for Youth, noting that on the part of Mr. Tatar "there was no response".
As he noted, after today's meeting, the negotiators will continue the discussion and "as soon as he (Mr. Tatar) is ready, I am ready to meet".
In a journalist's remark that Mr. Tatar said that he is positive on the issue concerning Lybia and Athienou, the President of the Republic replied "no, he was not positive on the issue of Athienou. If he was positive on the issue of Athienou, there could be announcements".
He added that "Mr. Tatar, I don't want to speak for him, put forward some ideas that I immediately placed myself on. For one (roadblock in Athienou) that, yes, we are ready, for the other (roadblock in Lybia) – the way he presented it, that it is for the benefit of the Greek Cypriots does not correspond to reality” and it was to move the discussion from roadblock of Athienou, President Christodoulidis said.
"We submitted specific proposals for the benefit of the entire Cypriot people, taking into account the requests of the residents of Athienou, Pyrgos Tellyria and the surrounding areas, proposals that are also of interest to the Turkish Cypriots, proposals for which there was an agreement in the past, but when it came time to implement we saw pushback from the Turkish side, more ideas we discussed with the GM, and the GM was positive, eight in their totality, a package which of course was not meant to select only some of them, but assumes that it is for the benefit of the entire Cypriot people. The answer was specific, that he was not in a position today to decide and make announcements and I said whenever you are ready I am here to meet again", he noted.
Asked if their new meeting will take place during the presence of UN Deputy Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo in Cyprus, President Christodoulidis said that "it depends solely on when the Turkish side will be ready. I repeat, they are specific proposals, ours, which we processed and I mentioned very specifically in the discussion. If there was a positive response today, they could be made public", he noted.
When asked if, in addition to the well-known crossing points proposed by the Greek Cypriot side, there are also proposals for other roadblocks, the President of the Republic said that "no, the specific ones exist as you mentioned them. There are some other roadblocks that have been mentioned from the Turkish side to create a mutually beneficial state of affairs."
He repeated that without being able to make a statement about the specifics, Mr. Tatar to answer and asked for time to study them.
Asked if this package is "or all or nothing", the President of the Republic said that "it is a package that, yes, has this dimension".
To another question he said that "the next meeting will take place if there is an answer, either positive or negative." But for the UN to call a new meeting - we are ready tomorrow, even today - if there was a possibility of a decision at that moment, it could be made public."
He added that "even if the answer is negative, I believe that a meeting will be held to convey the answers (Mr. Tatar) to this package with the eight points that we specifically recommended".
As the KYPE is informed, the eight points submitted include the roadblocks of Pyroiou-Athienou, Mia Milia, Kokkina and a crossing from Louroujina. In addition, among others, they include a proposal for a Technical Youth Committee, a proposal for a Truth Committee, a Consultative Committee on the Cyprus issue from Civil Society and implementation of the consensus on Pyla.
Of these, the points that had to be included as a "package" mainly concern the issue of barricades, said a source with knowledge of the matter, noting that if Mr. Tatar appeared positive on some of the other issues, such as the proposal for a Technical Youth Committee, the Greek Cypriot side would agree.
