LEFKOSA - A Turkish Cypriot spokesman said on Friday that the Greek Cypriot leader said during a meeting with the Turkish Cypriot president that he was not ready for extensive talks.
Presidential spokesman Hasan Ercakica of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) commented on the meeting between TRNC`s President Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias, held in the buffer zone in Lefkosa on Friday.
"Consequently, we are pleased with the meeting," said Ercakica, stating that the Greek Cypriot party`s reaffirmation of its commitment to the process that started on March 21st was a pleasing development for TRNC.
"However, Christofias said that he was not ready to start talks under today`s circumstances and added that he thought he would not be ready until the end of June," Ercakica said.
Upon a question, Ercakica said the Greek Cypriot leader`s reason for "not being ready for talks" was his opinion regarding the "insufficiency of the results of the activities conducted by working groups to start extensive talks".
Noting that the Turkish and Greek Cypriot parties still had different stances, Ercakica also said TRNC was particularly pleased that the Greek Cypriot party did not hesitate to include in the joint statement a paragraph putting emphasis on the political equity of the Turkish community and the equal status of two founder states.
During their meeting in the buffer zone today, Talat and Christofias reaffirmed their commitment to a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation based on political equality.
The two leaders also agreed that the partnership should be a federal government that has one international identity formed by Turkish and Greek Cypriot founder states that are in equal status.
The leaders decided to meet again in the second half of June to review further progress.
(DO-BRC)