Official contacts

President Demetris Christofias flew to Athens yesterday for a meeting with the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou today.

It was also announced that the Foreign Minister of Foreign, Markos Kyprianou, will visit London on 23 - 24 November in order to address the first meeting of the British All Party Parliamentary Group for Cyprus and brief British parliamentarians on the Cyprus issue. While in London he will meet with his British counterpart Mr William Hague.

Moreover, Bayrak reported that the Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu will be visiting Stockholm for contacts on 24 to 26 November.

The Greek Foreign Minister Mr Dimitris Droutsas speaking in Brussels yesterday proposed that an EU-Turkey Summit Meeting be held in late June or autumn next year, in order to adopt a political declaration that would set out a “new roadmap” for Turkish accession.

On the Cyprus issue Mr Droutsas underlined that if Turkey really wants to move ahead, it needs to meet all its obligations. “In the final analysis, we are talking about relations with a country – a reunified Cyprus – that will be a partner tomorrow, because it is obvious that as long as there are occupation troops on the island, Turkey cannot become a member. So I think that if the Protocol issue and the matter of Turkey’s other obligations have not been resolved by June, Turkey runs the danger that the accession process will be frozen until these situations are resolved. That is simply how it is, so there is no point in anyone hiding behind the Cyprus issue”.