Turkish and Greek Cypriots meet

Schwimmer said that reconciliation should be supported on the island, hoping that the tree brought from the island would be the symbol of this reconciliation.

The representatives of Turkish and Greek Cypriot political parties met at a meeting, also attended by Schwimmer, after the ceremony. Issuing a statement regarding the meetings, the Council of Europe said that the meeting was organized with the aim of supporting UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s peace initiatives on the island.

Opinions about Cyprus’ future were handled at the meeting, which has no other special agenda.

Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Dervis Eroglu and Democrat Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Serdar Denktas, who were in the Turkish delegation, criticized the Greek Cypriot mission as none of their political party leaders came to Strasbourg. The Greek Cypriot mission consisted of only representatives from Greek Cypriot parties.

The Turkish Cypriot mission also met European Court of Human Rights representatives after meeting with the Greek Cypriots.