President convened Council of leaders ahead of dinner with Akinci

President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades convened on Thursday the Council of the political party leaders to brief them on developments in the Cyprus issue and exchange views ahead of the informal dinner that he will have on the 16^th of April with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.

In statements after the meeting, that was also attended by former Presidents of the Republic, the President of the House of Representatives, the Foreign Minister and the Greek Cypriot negotiator at the Cyprus talks, Government Spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said that the President briefed them on the dinner that is to take place on Monday as well as on the developments in the Cyprus issue.

He added that the political leaders expressed views and suggestions, noting that it was a useful exchange of views since the President wanted to know their positions ahead of his meeting with Akinci.

"The President will proceed to the dinner with the aim that the talks will resume," Prodromou said.

Invited to comment on Akinci’s statements that he will raise a series of issues during the dinner, the Government Spokesman pointed out that dinner has no agenda, since it is not part of the negotiations process.

The aim of the informal dinner, he said, is the resumption of talks, "at least this is our understanding".

Prodromou pointed out that when there is no agenda, any issues can be raised and said that  President Anastasiades will also raise some issues during the discussion he will have with Akinci, the major issue being "the need to resume negotiations from the point we left them as was the direction given by the UNSG Mr Guterres".  

Asked if they discussed the situation in the wider region, he said that they did indeed discuss developments in Syria as well as the fact that the Republic of Cyprus is not involved in any designs taking place.  

He expressed hope that further conflict is prevented.

The Spokesman said that the political party leaders exchanged views on the issue and were shortly briefed on the situation by Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Christodoulides.  

Asked if the crisis in the region could have an impact on the prospects for a Cyprus solution, given Turkey’s situation, he said that all has an impact, noting that Turkey is indeed part of the crisis in Syria. But the Government Spokesman noted that the focus is on the discussion that will take place with the Turkish Cypriot leader on Monday.

He reiterated that the Republic of Cyprus is not part of any designs done by various countries, even if those countries are EU partners, or friendly countries.

"Cyprus is not part of those designs nor was Nicosia asked nor was there any involvement", he said.

President Anastasiades and Akinci have been engaged in UN-backed negotiations for a solution to the Cyprus problem. The latest round of talks took place in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans Montana but failed to yield any results.

UN talks aim at reuniting Cyprus, divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion, under a federal roof.