LEFKOSA - The direct talks on Cyprus issue will resume on Wednesday after an interval of 3.5 months.
TRNC President Rauf Denktas, and Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides will come together at lunch in which U.N. Secretary General's Special Representative to Cyprus Alvaro De Soto will also participate.
Denktas and Clerides will meet at 11.00 local time in the residence of Zbigniew Wlosowicz, the deputy special representative of U.N. Secretary General for Cyprus near Lefkosa Airport. A schedule for direct talks will be determined in the meeting which will also continue at lunch.
The two leaders who came together on December 4, 2001 upon the initiative of TRNC President Rauf Denktas started the face to face talks on January 16, 2002. The two leaders came together for 58 times within the scope of the face to face talks which continued for six tours. Their last meeting was on September 26, 2002 in Lefkosa.
The leaders went to New York upon the invitation of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and had separate meetings first with Annan and altogether between 3-4 October. After the meetings, Clerides returned to the island, while Denktas had a heart surgery in New York on October 7. Denktas stayed in New York for 67 days.
Annan submitted a comprehensive solution plan in Cyprus on November 11, but due to the objections of the two sides to the plan, a reviewed plan was re-submitted on December 10, 2002. The Greek Cypriot side was included in the enlargement list of EU in Copenhagen summit between 12-13 December and its membership was accepted. The EU in Copenhagen Summit asked the sides in Cyprus to continue negotiations on the basis of Annan plan until February 28. Denktas and Clerides will start an intensive negotiation process on Wednesday which will continue till Feb. 28.