The international community recognizes the constructive stance of the Greek Cypriot side, Government Spokesman, Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Tuesday, while noting that the resumption of negotiations for a Cyprus settlement does not only depend on the Greek Cypriot side. In statements after the meeting of the National Council, during which President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, informed political party leaders about his meetings in New York and his meeting with the UN Secretary - General Antonio Guterres, on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, Letymbiotis underlined that the Greek Cypriot side expects the appointment of a UNSG envoy, who will look into the prospects for the resumption of the negotiations. He also recalled that this was the position expressed unanimously by the Security Council members in their recent statement. The spokesman said that the President briefed the National Council members about his meeting with the UNSG, to whom he reiterated "our readiness to have a joint meeting with (Turkish Cypriot leader) Mr. Tatar in the UNSG's presence, as well as the added value that we consider the appointment of a UNSG envoy will have, to look into the prospects for the resumption of the negotiations." Asked about the next steps forward, Letymbiotis said that the European Council Summit in December will discuss the EU - Turkish relations adding that "it is not only our position but also the position of our European partners that any issues which Turkey assesses as high priorities are directly linked with the resumption of the negotiations and their course." Responding to another question, Letymbiotis noted that President Christodoulides sent very clear messages during his speech at the UN General Assembly both to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and to the international community. He underlined that the messages which the international community has received are "that it is our side that has undertaken initiatives, is it our side that has submitted concrete constructive proposals, it is the Republic of Cyprus which remains committed to the agreed basis." "What we can say right now is that the international community recognizes our own constructive stance," he added. Responding to another question, Letymbiotis reiterated that the goals that were set out were to make clear "our focus on the agreed basis of the talks and to convey to the UNSG the added value that the appointment of an envoy will have." "The resumption of the negotiations is not only up to us," he added and noted that "we will use all the diplomatic tools at our disposal, as we have been doing since we have assumed our duties, including our EU membership, to create the preconditions for a mutually beneficial situation, for the resumption of the negotiations with a view to reach a just solution to the Cyprus problem." Furthermore he underlined that "we will not allow in any case to move away even to the minimum from the Security Council resolutions provisions." Invited to comment on Erdogan's reference about a possible recognition of the illegal Turkish Cypriot regime from Azerbaijan, Letymbiots said that the relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan are well known and that all necessary demarches are being carried out by the Republic of Cyprus, with a view to prevent this from happening. Asked when the measures of the Republic of Cyprus for the Turkish Cypriots will be announced he said that measures are ready and will be announced when the President considers that the time is right. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

Source: Cyprus News Agency