Statements by President Papadopoulos after Final joint meeting with the Secretary general

February 13, 2004 

Papadopoulos: I said that we have had three days of intense negotiations. We are very glad that after these negotiations we have achieved what we have been asking for the last nine months resumption of the talks under the auspices of the Secretary General. This time the talks between the parties with the assistance of Greece and Turkey and also of the European Union, I hope will lead us to a positive result so that we may decide to put in to a referendum.

Q: Can we say now that Cyprus problem is coming to an end?

A: Well, there have been so many false hopes in the past I wouldn’t like to make any prediction. I hope this will be solved.

Q: What are the main issues that you were talking about?

A: The main issue was the exercise of the discretion of the Secretary General as to the final outcome of the issues but most important of all was the involvement of the European Union in the talks.

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