Press Statement by
Mr. Alvaro de Soto
Under-Secretary-General
Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Cyprus
12 July 2000

In accordance with my announcement of last week, the Cyprus proximity talks adjourned today and will resume in Geneva on 24 July. The talks will proceed until around 4 August. There will then be a further recess, after which talks will resume in New York on 12 September and go into early October. I am pleased that a calendar for the talks over the coming months is in place.

I do not wish to characterize the state of play in any way. But I have asked the parties to reflect upon some points that I have put to them and to provide me with their reactions upon their return to Geneva on 24 July.

As you know, the Secretary-General has obtained from the parties an agreement to observe a strict press blackout regarding the proximity talks. The blackout also extends to periods of recess during the ongoing talks, including the recess that is now starting. The Secretary-General sees the compliance of both sides with this requirement as a test of their cooperation with his discharge of the mandate of good offices entrusted to him.

Furthermore, as you are aware, the recess coincides with a period of heightened emotions on the island. I have reiterated today the Secretary-General’s appeal to the parties to play down the tone, the size, the content, and the official rhetoric

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