President receives Cyprus AKEL leader

President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias said on Wednesday that the “awakening of the Turkish Cypriots” and the plans for exploitation of Cyprus’ natural resources were “auspicious” for the island republic, during a meeting in Athens with visiting Cyprus AKEL party leader Andros Kyprianou.

Papoulias displayed special interest in Cyprus President Demetris Christofias’ international contacts, noting that Christofias has succeeded in attracting the interest of very many sides on Cyprus and the Cyprus issue “and that is very positive”.

Unfortunately, however, there have been no specific results to date on the Cyprus problem, Papoulias added.

On the protests by Turkish Cypriots against Ankara, Kyprianou noted that recently, five Turkish Cypriots who were heading the mobilisations in the occupied sector of the island went to Brussels together with an AKEL delegation recently and briefed the European Parliament.

“The messages arising form their discussions were very encouraging. It was a cry of agony, as they themselves called it. They also want to fight with us for a solution to the Cyprus issue, because they realise that they are being lost as a community,” Kyprianou added.