Solution on Cyprus Issue by End of 2016 Possible but Ambitious, UN Envoy Tells ANA
Progress has been made in Cyprus talks and a solution by the end of the year is possible, albeit ambitious, the Norwegian U.N. special envoy for Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, said in an interview with Athens News Agency on Tuesday, following talks in Athens.
Eide was responding to a question by ANA on whether UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon’s statement earlier this year that a solution could be reached by the end of the year. He said Ban’s statement echoed similar statements made earlier in the year by the Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, adding it would require hard work to achieve.
“Yes I think it’s possible, it’s ambitious, if they are to reach this goal we need to work hard because we have outstanding issues, but we also have so much behind us that I think is possible,” he said. "The conversations we’re discussing in Athens is exactly about the issue of security and guarantees and how to involve the guarantor powers when we come to the moment when the international dimension will be on the table."
ANA-MPA