UNITED NATIONS - An U.N. senior official said on Wednesday that the U.N. wanted the working groups of Turkish and Greek Cypriot parties to start negotiations on core issues of dispute in Cyprus next week.
The U.N. Chief of Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe spoke to reporters after giving information to UN Security Council about the developments in Cyprus.
Pascoe reaffirmed his optimism over the solution after his meetings with the parties in Cyprus, noting that he presented an affirmative report to the Security Council.
Pascoe said they all knew that there were very complicated issues that needed a solution. Noting that efforts were underway to establish working groups on important matters and the process was advancing quite well, Pascoe said that the U.N. wanted these groups to start to negotiate core issues next week.
Reaffirming that he believed Turkey's strong support to the solution of Cyprus question, Pascoe said Turkey was strictly committed to the solution of Cyprus problem. Pascoe recalled Turkish foreing minister's and other senior officials' statements expressing strong support for the solution of Cyprus problem.
Pascoe said the U.N. Secretary General might think of appointing a special Cyprus representative in the second phase of the process after the first phase involving working groups was completed successfully.
(AY-AÖ)