WASHINGTON (ANA-MPA/T.Ellis)
The United States does not intend to impose a solution to the protracted Cyprus problem, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.

Responding to relevant questions, Clinton noted: "We're going to do everything we can, to support the Cypriots reaching their own solution. I think that previous efforts have unfortunately resulted in a feeling, by certainly the Greek Cypriots, that things were attempted to be imposed on them. And we want the parties to reach an agreement. And that's what we are supporting."
"The (2004 UN Annan) plan was rejected because it was unacceptable to the Greek Cypriots. We have taken the position that this must be a settlememt that the two parties agree to themselves. We don't intend to impose anything. We intend to support, insofar as we are able, the negotiations between the parties for what we believe is the best outcome: a bizonal, bicommunal federation that would represent fairly the interests of both communities," Clinton added. 

Referring to her recent meetings with Cyprus Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in Washington, the Secretary of State said: "We have told each side that we support their very diligent efforts, to try to resolve these matters, including security issues and troop presence."

Source: Athens News Agency

^
top

print this page   send this page