Turkish Cypriot President hails recent talks on Cyprus

NICOSIA - Anatolia News Agency

Turkish Cypriot President Derviş Eroğlu has hailed the most recent reunification meeting with his Greek Cypriot counterpart as “sincere and constructive,” noting that some misunderstanding on the European Union had been corrected.

“Unlike our last meeting, [this meeting] was sincere and constructive. We have made progress in many issues, including the European Union. I believe that we could reach a compromise,” Eroğlu told reporters yesterday after the meeting with Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias in the U.N.-controlled buffer zone. The two leaders will meet again on Jan. 3 and 9, 2012, before they gather in New York with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who has announced plans to call an international conference on the issue. Eroğlu said they wanted EU primary law to become the basis for an agreement but added that they had yet to reach an agreement with the Greek side of the island.