Asked about the prospect of President Demetris Christofias changing his proposal for a rotating presidency, Talat noted that nothing is agreed in the negotiations until everything is agreed.

“So he is free to change his proposals, but I will also be free to change my proposals. So I strongly advise him not to,” said Talat.

Talat held a working lunch with DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades yesterday at the Saray Hotel in the north. Having discussed the latest decision by the European Court of Human Rights on the north’s property commission, Talat told reporters that the decision “underlines once more the importance of finding a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem”.

The Turkish Cypriot leader said his statements had been misinterpreted by the Greek Cypriot press and that the impression was given that he would now depend on the ECHR decision in the talks. “No, I said that we must solve the property issue through political negotiations, through political means.”

Anastassiades said he discussed the ECHR decision as well as the Orams case with Talat. “For this reason, we both agreed that the best solution on the property issue is the final, comprehensive solution of the Cyprus issue because on the one hand we have the ECHR decision, and on the other the Orams case from the European Court of Justice, which considers illegal any development of Greek Cypriot properties, particularly by Europeans. As such, it’s not about one scoring a victory over the other,” said Anastassiades.

Asked whether he would take up the invite by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to visit Washington, Talat said he didn’t have four days free to go to the US. He said he was also “hesitant” because the Americans “did not think about political equality when they made this invitation”.

Source cyprus-mail.com