SECURITY COUNCIL PRESS STATEMENT ON CYPRUS

 

Following is the text of today’s statement to the press by Security Council President Dumisani S. Kumalo ( South Africa):

The members of the United Nations Security Council welcome the Cyprus Government’s decision to remove the wall and National Guard post at Ledra Street as a step towards opening a new crossing point.  They hope both sides will be able to agree quickly on the practicalities for pedestrian access, and welcome the support provided to this initiative by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Michael Møller, and the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).  They also welcome the earlier dismantling by the Turkish Cypriots of the wall and pedestrian bridge on the north side of the buffer zone in the same area.

The members of the Security Council share the Secretary-General’s hope that confidence-building measures of this kind will be part of a broader move to resume full-fledged negotiations aimed at a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem.  The members of the Security Council express their readiness to offer full support as necessary.

The members of the Security Council urge both communities to work with the United Nations to open Ledra Street crossing and to implement the 8 July 2006 agreement, in particular through the immediate creation of bicommunal working groups and technical committees in order to prepare the ground for full-fledged negotiations leading to a comprehensive and durable settlement.

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For information media • not an official record