Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 11-08-02

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From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>

CONTENTS

[01] LEADERS CYPRUS TALKS -

[02] US CYPRUS ERDOGAN

[01] LEADERS CYPRUS TALKS -

The meeting is the third of a series of all-day meetings to take place over the next several weeks until October, as agreed during a meeting between the leaders of the two communities and the UN Secretary General in Geneva on July 7th, 2011.

The leaders are expected to continue their discussion on the chapter on governance and power-sharing.

UN Secretary General`s Special Advisor on Cyprus Alexander Downer will also be present at the meeting. In statements after a meeting on Monday with President Christofias, Donwer said that the UN work hard to try to help the parties in Cyprus to achieve a good agreement on the Cyprus problem, in consistence with Security Council resolutions. He added that if there is real progress between now and October 21st, this will have a positive impact on public confidence as well.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. UN-led negotiations began in 2008 between the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus, in an effort to reunify the island under a federal roof.

President Christofias and Eroglu met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in Geneva, on July 7th, and according to Ban`s statement after the meeting, they agreed to enter into an intensive period of negotiations on the core issues of the Cyprus problem, with an aim of achieving convergences before meeting again in New York, next October.

[02] US CYPRUS ERDOGAN

Invited to comment on statements made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his recent illegal visit to Cyprus` Turkish occupied areas, Deputy Spokesperson of the US Department of State Mark Toner said that the US position on Cyprus is well-known.

``The United States strongly supports the negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General`s Good Offices Mission under Alexander Downer to reach a settlement reunifying the island as a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation``, he noted.

Furthermore, he recalled that ``as Secretary Clinton reiterated during her recent trip to Turkey, `the status-quo - in Cyprus - has gone on for too long```. The Spokesperson added that both Greek Cypriots as well as Turkish Cypriots could benefit from a solution on the island.

``We believe that both sides would benefit from a settlement, and we strongly support the renewed, reenergized efforts that the United Nations is leading and that the Cypriots themselves are responsible for, because ultimately, they`re the ones who have to make the hard decisions about how to resolve all of the outstanding issues``, he went on to say.

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