TRNC News Today 9^th February 2016

Akıncı: “All kinds of behaviour that can harm the negotiation process should be avoided”

President Mustafa Akıncı stated that positive developments have been reached in the Cyprus negotiation process and all kinds of behaviour that can harm this positive momentum should be avoided.

Noting that people should be careful while making statements on the Cyprus issue, Akıncı said that the leaders have the freedom to explain their own positions, but a joint statement can be done only with the consent of both parties and should be done together.

Responding the questions of the TAK reporter, Akıncı said that Anastasiades mentioned the issues that the two sides said “we agreed”, and he added that this only reflects Anastasiades’ personal ideas and the “consensus points” could be explained only together with both sides.

Stating that a confederation which consists of two separate sovereign states has never been on the table, Akıncı said that what has been discussed in the inter-communal talks is a federal Cyprus without domination which is based on political equality, and he stressed that there is no hesitation about it.

Mentioning the statements of Anastasiades regarding not to accept the rotating presidency, Akıncı said, “Unfortunately, this attitude of the Greek Cypriot side is a serious disappointment for us. If the Greek Cypriot community could not accept a Turkish Cypriot as the leader of the federal state for the fair periods, this means that there will be no agreement.”

Burcu: “Leaders meeting on 13th February”

Presidential Spokesperson Barış Burcu announced that President Mustafa Akıncı and the Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Anastasiades will come together on Saturday, 13th February.

In his written statement Presidential Spokesperson Burcu indicated that Turkish Cypriot Negotiator Özdil Nami and the Greek Cypriot Negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis held a three-hour meeting yesterday. The UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser for Cyprus Espen Barth Eide also attended the meeting which was held in the Buffer Zone.

At the meeting, it was decided to hold the next leaders’ meeting on Saturday, February 13th.

Religious leaders visited Anthropology Laboratory under Committee on Missing Persons (CMP)

President of Religious Affairs Talip Atalay visited the Anthropology Laboratory under the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) with the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church Hrisostomos II, Armenian Archbishop Nareg, Maronite Archbishop Yosif Sueyf and Latin Archbishop Jerzy Kraj, together with the Ambassador of Sweden Klas Gierow.

According to a statement issued by the “United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), the Office of the Religious Track of the Cyprus Peace Process” established under the auspices of the Embassy of Sweden, the delegation who met with members of the Committee on Missing Persons and the scientists gave joint support for the committee’s work.

At the end of the visit, Religious leaders called on all Cypriots to provide information to the Committee on Missing Persons regarding the possible burial places of the missing persons.

Religious leaders will meet with the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide and the UNSG’s Special Representative Lisa Buttenheim at the Swedish Embassy Residence on 10 February 2016, at 14.30.

Anastasiades: “Economic aspect is a precondition for the solution”

Pointing out that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are making a detailed study on the economic aspects of the solution, Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Anastasiades said, “The economic aspect is a precondition for the solution.”