Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis reiterated on Wednesday
that the Cyprus issue can be and should be solved only in one shot
with careful preparations.
After meeting with visiting President of Cyprus Tassos
Papadopoulos, the Greek premier told reporters that "we cannot
afford the luxury of a new failure."
Karamanlis, who was briefed on Papadopoulos's recent meeting
with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said the meeting was a
positive development for the resumption of efforts to solve the
Cyprus issue.
He also stressed the need for careful preparation.
Efforts for a Cyprus solution should progress with careful steps
based on a well-prepared process, without pressing deadlines or
arbitration, so as to achieve "a just and viable solution, based on
UN decisions and resolutions and the new European reality,"
Karamanlis said.
The prime minister said his talks with Papadopoulos covered the
latest developments in the Cyprus issue in detail, as well as the
prospects arising following Papadopoulos's meeting with Annan.
"It now lies with Turkey to show the same spirit of
cooperation," he added.
He also welcomed the decisions made recently by the European
Union (EU) concerning the regulations for economic assistance to
Turkish-Cypriots, noting that the Austrian presidency's proposal
contained points of great interest to the Cyprus Republic.
On his part, commenting on Turkey's implementation of custom
protocol, Papadopoulos said the European Commission's report in
2006 will refer to Turkey's progress toward EU entry, and will
reiterate that Turkey has an obligation to meet the EU demands.
On the positions of the US State Department concerning direct
trade with the Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus, he said that "the
Americans wrongly believe that they can bring about reunification
(of Cyprus) through direct trade with the Turkish-Cypriots."
Papadopoulos, who arrived in Athens on a working visit Tuesday
evening, also met Greek President Karolos Papoulias and held talks
with Greek leaders of political parties.
(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2006)
