President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias said he was “very troubled” after his brief meeting on Wednesday with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu.

I will not make a statement now on Mr. Eroglu’s views. This will happen later. In any case, they are not views for someone to be easily excited about.

He said “the meeting was brief’ and that Eroglu “has submitted some views on the issue of governance and power sharing,” with which one cannot be easily excited.

“The views were such that we need to study them. I will not make a statement now on Mr. Eroglu’s views. This will happen later. In any case, they are not views for someone to be easily excited about.”

He added that “from here on in, we will also table some documents and comments on previous positions of the Turkish Cypriot side on various issues concerning governance, and also the guarantees and other issues, to which a short reference was made, in any case, because the issue of guarantees and the treaty of alliance have not yet been discussed,” noting that “these documents will be exchanged.”

Asked if Wednesday’s meeting was a step backwards in the issue of governance, President Christofias said he did not wish to make a statement currently.

President Christofias said that he would be meeting Eroglu on January 21, the last meeting before they meet with the UN Secretary General in Geneva on January 26, adding that meetings between their aides have been set.

In statements to the press following the meeting between the two leaders, Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alexander Downer, said that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will ask the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus to maintain the momentum at the UN – led Cyprus talks, and to chart a path forward.

Asked what the UN expect from the Geneva meeting, he said “two things can come out of this meeting – one is that the leaders will be able to report on the progress they’ve been making in the negotiations since they last met with the Secretary-General on November the 18th, and secondly, that the leaders will be able to chart a path forward from the 26th of January”.

Source: Cyprus News Agency