In their first meeting since Christofias was elected head of the Greek Cypriot administration last month, the two on Friday also agreed to re-open a border crossing point at Ledra Street as soon as technically possible.
It was agreed that technical committees will work on developing proposals to be the basis of reunifications talks, the first rounds of which could be held in three months.
This is a new era we are starting for the solution of the Cyprus problem, Talat said after the meeting. Our target is to find a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem as soon as possible.
According to Christofias both he and Talat are optimistic that a resolution of the Cyprus dispute can be found.
“I look forward to having in three months’ time results which will help both of us have a dialogue under the auspices of the Secretary General,” Christofias said.
“I would like to stress that as the two leaders we have no disagreements and we will come together and continue our talks,” the Greek Cypriot leader added.
Michael Moeller, the United Nations envoy to Cyprus, said in a statement that the two leaders met today in a very positive and cordial atmosphere and exchanged views on a number of issues, achieving a great degree of convergence.
“They have decided to ask their respective advisers to meet this coming week in order to setup a number of working groups and technical committees, establish their agendas, and to do so in the most expeditious way possible,” Moeller said.
In taking full responsibility for the conduct of the future negotiations, the leaders have also agreed to meet three months from now to review the work of the working groups and technical committees, and using their results, to start full-fledged negotiations under the auspices of the UN Secretary General, he told reporters.
