Cypriot President Leaves for Athens to Discuss Cyprus Issue

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, May 26, 2003

Cypriot President Leaves for Athens to Discuss Cyprus Issue

Cyprus' President Tassos Papadopoulos left Sunday for Athens, Greece, for a two-day visit to have talks with Greek leaders on the Cyprus issue.

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Cyprus' President Tassos Papadopoulos left Sunday for Athens, Greece, for a two-day visit to have talks with Greek leaders on the Cyprus issue.

According to Cyprus News Agency, Papadopoulos will meet with hisGreek counterpart Constantinos Stephanopoulos on Monday and then Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, who is also President of the European Council.

The talks are expected to focus on effort to revive international moves to reunify the island as it prepares to join the European Union (EU) next May.

Speaking to reporters before his departure, Papadopoulos said despite its interest in a solution to the Cyprus problem, the European Union will not assume any role that would substitute the UN initiative.

Greece currently holds the EU rotating presidency for the first half of 2003.

Papadopoulos also referred to the US concern for Cyprus, which he said "has always been great."

He said the forthcoming meeting of Georgios Iacovou, Cyprus' foreign minister, with his US counterpart Colin Powell in Washington, had been arranged at a Cyprus request.

Cyprus has been divided into the Greek Cypriot side in the southand Turkish Cypriot side in the north since 1974.

The UN-sponsored Cyprus peace talks collapsed in March due to Turkish Cypriots' refusal to accept UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's reunification plan.

Papadopoulos has expressed his readiness to enter new "substantive" negotiations on the basis of the UN plan.

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