Joint Statement of the Cyprus Leaders, read out on their behalf by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Joint Statement of the Cyprus Leaders, read out on their behalf by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,
United Nations Protected Area, Nicosia, Cyprus

1 February 2010

We, as the two leaders, express our gratitude for the visit of the United Nations Secretary General to Cyprus, which demonstrates the continued interest of the United Nations and the international community for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem under the Secretary General’s Good Offices Mission.

Taking this opportunity, we express our appreciation to the Secretary General for his Good Offices Mission as approved by the Security Council and for the efforts aimed at finding a mutually agreed solution.

Working groups comprising Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots have devoted time and effort to thoroughly discuss all aspects of the Cyprus problem.
We ourselves, together with our Advisors and our teams, have been working diligently for more than a year on all Chapters of the Cyprus problem. We have worked on the basis of the integrated whole approach that is “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”. Good convergence has already been achieved in some Chapters. For the rest, we are determined to work hard to achieve the desired progress.

Over the last three weeks we have worked hard during our intensified negotiations, mainly on the Chapter of Governance and Power Sharing and achieved important progress.

We express our strong commitment to continue to work on this and the rest of the Chapters. We express our confidence that with good will and determination, we can achieve a solution in the shortest possible time.

It is our common conviction that the Cyprus problem has remained unresolved for too long. We are also aware that time is not on the side of settlement. There is an important opportunity now to find a solution to the Cyprus problem which would take into full consideration the legitimate rights and concerns of both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. We are aware that such a settlement is in the interest of all and that it will finally bring peace, stability and prosperity to our common home Cyprus.

* *** *