The President of the Republic Mr Tassos Papadopoulos arrived on Saturday in New York where tomorrow, 19 September, he will address the 61st Summit of the UN General Assembly. On the same day he is scheduled to have a private meeting with the UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan and attend a lunch hosted by Mr Annan in honour of the heads of state or government participating in the General Assembly sessions.

President Papadopoulos will also have meetings with Security Council members and foreign counterparts and will give a press conference at the UN Headquarters.

This afternoon he will give a lecture at the New York University (NYU) on “Cyprus, EU accession and new strategic relation with the United States”. During his stay in New York he will have meetings with the leadership of overseas Cypriots.

Speaking to reporters upon his arrival in New York and invited to reveal the agenda for discussion of his meeting with the UN Chief, President Papadopoulos said the main issue of discussion would be the course of implementing the agreement reached after a meeting on 8 July between Mr Papadopoulos, the Turkish Cypriot leader and the UN Under-Secretary for Political Affairs Mr Gambari. The Cyprus problem will be reviewed and assessments will be made as to what can be done to push forward the substantial preparation of the talks, he added.

Asked to say whether his meeting with the UN Secretary-General had any particular significance, given the fact that Mr Annan was retiring by the end of this year, Mr Papadopoulos noted the following: “Mr Annan had shown particular interest in the preparation of the meeting of 8 July. As you know I saw him in February and we had agreed then on some points regarding both procedural matters and substance. I agreed with his view that in order for him to call for a new round of talks, the issues for discussion would have to be well-prepared and progress would have to be made to convince him that a new effort would bear hope to reach an outcome. Consequently, the Agreement of 8 July essentially implemented everything we agreed in Paris and that is why he is showing particular interest, and I am sure that he would like to be informed on the prospects which, I believe, exist. I do not know whether this will be the last meeting. If progress is made, no one could rule out a new meeting with the Secretary-General. I mean progress in the implementation of the 8 July Agreement. Since Mr Gambari helped too in the attainment of that agreement, surely he also will have a particular interest in seeing the implementation of the agreement that was reached in his presence.”