Brussels, 26/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - As foreseen, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed rekindling talks on Cyprus. On Saturday in Davos, he called on Kofi Annan to appoint a senior ombudsman from a "politically neutral country" (according to the Anatolia Agency, this could be Colin Powell, or George Robertson). On Friday, Turkey's National Security Council took a stance in favour of resuming talks on the basis of the Annan plan and bearing the realities of the island in mind.
In Nicosia, the Security Council declaration is considered as a manoeuvre on the part of the Turkish authorities. According to the ANA Agency, government spokesperson Kypros Chrysostomides said it is "not positive". In Athens, still according to ANA, the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, Panos Beglitis, commented: "Turkey's national security council is attempting, with its statement, to place a solution for the Cyprus problem within a different framework from that of UN resolutions and the Annan plan".