Brussels, 15/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - The government of Cyprus restated on Tuesday its determination to pursue negotiations with Turkish Cypriots with a view to finding a solution to the problem of the island's division. It called on the EU to put pressure on the Turkish part in favour of rekindling the negotiating process under the aegis of the United Nations. "The Cypriot government is willing to resume negotiations (currently suspended) from the point where they were abandoned by the Turkish contingent", said Ioannis Kasoulides, Foreign Minister for Cyprus, on the occasion of the EU/Cyprus Association Council held in Brussels on Tuesday. "We are calling on the international community, including the European Union, to exercise its influence on the Turkish part with a view to rekindling the UN process and to leading this process to a positive conclusion", he said.
In its conclusions, the Association Council expressed its "strong support" in favour of successful talks. The Association Council also drew up a largely positive balance sheet for Cyprus which, in negotiations strictly speaking, has already closed 18 of the 31 chapters. The country has a market economy that works well and considerable progress has been made with a view to setting the necessary structures in place to guarantee that acquis communautaire is taken on board.