STRASBOURG - President Mehmet Ali Talat of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) met on Tuesday Secretary General of the Council of Europe Terry Davis.
Talat and Davis discussed ongoing negotiations between the two Cypriot leaders to find a solution to Cyprus question and probable contribution of Council of Europe to solution process.
Prior to his meeting with Davis, Talat met President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe Yavuz Mildon and Frank Belfrage, Secretary General of Foreign Affairs of Sweden.
Talat will address general assembly meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Wednesday. He will be the first President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to ever adress PACE General Assembly.
PACE General Assembly on Wednesday will vote a report "Situation in Cyprus", prepared by German parliamentarian Joachim Horster. The report says resumption of talks have encouraging outcomes that would be in the advantage of the Cypriots.
The report referred to new negotiation process that started between leaders of both parties in Cyprus and called on the parties not to miss the opportunity to achieve a solution.
The report said ongoing negotiations were the best opportunity to eliminate the fragmentation in the island that continued for long years.
PACE allowed TRNC to attend its General Assembly meetings with observer status, after Greek Cypriots' rejection of the Annan plan in twin referendums. The two leaders launched extensive talks on September 11th marking the beginning of a new process aiming at finding a permanent solution to the Cyprus problem.
(AY-AÖ)
(GEN)