Brussels, 04/07/2006 (Agence Europe) - The President of the European Parliament Josep Borrell has welcomed the resumption of talks between the two Cypriot communities, under UN auspices, with a view to finding a solution to the division of the island. On Monday, the Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat met in Nicosia to discuss the fate of persons officially classed as missing since the conflict that led to the partition of the island. This was the first meeting of the two leaders since the rejection of the UN plan for reunification of Cyprus by the Greek Cypriot community in April 2004. Michael Moeller, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's representative to Cyprus, was present at the talks. Messrs Papadopoulos and Talat indicated that they could meet once again on 8 July, during the visit to Cyprus of Ibrahim Gambari, UN Under Secretary General with responsibility for political affairs, as part of a mission that will take him also to Turkey and Greece. Mr Gambari met the Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul in Ankara on Monday. After his trip, Mr Gambari will send a report to Mr Annan, who will then decide on how to proceed. Mr Gul is believed to have told Mr Gambari that Ankara was opposed to any changes in the UN plan for reunifying the island.
This first meeting between Messrs Papadopoulos and Talat since the failure of the referendum is an “important sign”, says Mr Borrel in a press release. “I hope that today's meeting will constitute a first stage in the process of resumption of the dialogue between the two sides. The fact that Mr Papadopoulos and Mr Talat implied that they were ready to meet again … is good news,” he stressed. On Monday, at his press conference with Matti Vanhanen in Helsinki, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said he thought the resumption of talks between the leaders of the two Cypriot communities was “encouraging” (see EUROPE 9224).