The Greek Cypriot side has a constructive stance at the ongoing Cyprus negotiations but has reached its limits, President of Cyprus Demetris Christofias has stressed.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the premises of the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Kiev, President Christofias said that the Greek Cypriot side wishes for the Cyprus problem to be solved the soonest possible.

“The Greek Cypriot side has an even more constructive stance at the ongoing Cyprus negotiations than one can imagine but we have reached our limits which we can not exceed,” he stressed, according to an official press release.

The President dismissed statements made by Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu that the Greek Cypriot side is not in a hurry to reach a solution of the Cyprus problem, saying that “this Turkish propaganda has to stop”.

The Greek Cypriot side, he stressed, is the one who wants the solution of the Cyprus problem, since “it is the Greek Cypriot properties which are being plundered, it is Greek Cypriot refugees who continue to be refugees, it is the enclaved, who continue to be enclaved, it is Turkish Cypriots who suffer from the presence of thousands of illegal Turkish settlers and are in danger to lose their Cypriot identity”.

Meanwhile, addressing the state dinner given to his honor by his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych, President Christofias urged the Turkish side to show the necessary flexibility at the forthcoming meeting with the UNSG and the Turkish Cypriot leader in Geneva, on the 8th of July.

He reiterated that the Greek Cypriot side adheres by the agreement with the UNSG that the Cyprus talks will not be carried out under strict timeframes, nor that there will be arbitration like in the past and that the role of the UN would be the role of a facilitator.

President Christofias, who thanked Ukraine for its firm position on the Cyprus issue, said that the Greek Cypriot side has been undertaking initiatives to facilitate and speed up the process of the Cyprus talks so that a mutually agreed solution can be reached by the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities.

Turkey, he said, bears the burden to prove its willingness for a solution and urged the Turkish side to show the necessary flexibility at the Geneva meeting, so that the necessary progress is achieved.

Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion. Peace talks are currently underway to find a negotiated settlement that will reunite the country, under a federal roof.

The UN Secretary General met with the President of the Republic and the Turkish Cypriot leader in November 2010, in New York, inviting them to accelerate the pace of negotiations. A second meeting took place in the Swiss city of Geneva, on January 26 and a third meeting is scheduled for July 7, again in Geneva.