The proximity talks aiming to prepare the necessary ground for meaningful negotiations leading to a comprehensive settlement between the two equal and sovereign parties in Cyprus will be resumed today in Geneva. The proximity talks, as was the case in New York, will be carried out by H.E. Rauf Denktash, President of the TRNC, with the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and his Special Advisor Alvaro de Soto.

The TRNC authorities have undertaken extensive preparatory work to which we have also contributed and, taking into account the EU dimension of the issue as well, they have developed their proposal for a two states confederation which constitutes the most realistic and viable settlement model.

Turkey, as one of the two motherlands and a guarantor state, fully supports the views of the TRNC and appreciates the constructive leadership of H.E. Rauf Denktash, President of the TRNC, in the search for a secure and lasting compromise between the two states in Cyprus.

The acknowledgement of the equal status of the two peoples in Cyprus and the two states representing them as well as the termination of the inhuman restrictions on the Turkish Cypriot people and the TRNC, continue to remain as the indispensable starting point for the creation of the necessary ground for meaningful negotiations and for proceeding to a comprehensive settlement on this ground.

Turkey hopes that steps will start to be taken in this direction in the Geneva talks and, in the new period ahead, a compromise safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of both sides will, within a confederal framework, begin to shape up.