Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders have not made sufficient progress during talks on reunifying Cyprus to call an international conference at this time.
Ban’s spokesman made the announcement Saturday afternoon after the secretary-general’s meeting Friday with Alexander Downer, the U.N. special adviser on Cyprus, and telephone calls earlier Saturday with Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu.
Ban has been pressing the two leaders to reach a settlement, and Downer said last month he had planned to call an international conference by early May, bringing together Britain, Greece and Turkey with the aim of putting the finishing touches on an accord.
But Downer said the two sides have not yet converged closely enough on key issues.
He said talks are stalled on how executive power would be shared under an envisioned federation and on how to deal with private property lost during the invasion.
Ban’s spokesman said that on the basis of the meeting with Downer on Friday, “the secretary-general shared his assessment that there is not the sufficient progress on core issues that would provide a basis for calling an international conference at this time.”
“He urged the two sides to take bold and decisive action in order to move the process forward,” the spokesman said.
(source: AP)
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
