Cypriot presidents agree to work on removing landmines

NICOSIA

Cypriot leaders made some progress yesterday on fostering trust between their countries, agreeing to delve deeper into the dangers posed by minefields and working together on environmental initiatives.

In a joint statement following the United Nations-hosted meeting, Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar and his Greek Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulides, said they also agreed on restoring neglected cemeteries and setting up a joint group of young people from both sides of the divide to discuss issues relevant to them.

The measures echoed those the two leaders agreed to pursue in a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Geneva last month that aimed to breathe new life into a peace process on hiatus for nearly eight years. Guterres said he will appoint an envoy tasked with getting formal peace talks restarted.

Tatar said that he’s hopeful “in time we will be able to achieve” progress.

“My friend Nikos, he’s got his own principles, I want our principles. What is important is to exchange and be positive so that we can achieve things together,” Tatar said.

the Turkish Cypriot president stated that he addressed the issue of the EOKA terrorist organization during his discussion with Christodoulides, particularly in light of the ceremonies in Greek Cyprus and Greece and their statements marking the 70th anniversary of its founding on April 1.

This year, for the first time, schools in Greece celebrated the anniversary of the founding of the terrorist organization responsible for the civilian deaths of Turkish Cypriots in 1974.

Tatar criticized the official stance of the Greek Cypriot government, which he accused of endorsing EOKA’s aim to unite Cyprus with Greece.

"We condemned the official rhetoric and the inflammatory statements regarding the EOKA terrorist organization."