Secretary-General noted that both leaders and many countries urged him to consider holding new talks in the context of his good offices mission. President Papadopoulos subsequently met with the Secretary-General in Paris, on 28 February 2006, where they reviewed the situation in Cyprus and examined modalities for moving forward on the process leading to the reunification of the island. They also agreed that the resumption of the negotiating process within the framework of the Secretary-General’s good offices must be timely and based on careful preparation. The 8 July 2006 agreement This outcome generated a new momentum for the resumption of the peace process on Cyprus. On July 3, President Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Talat met on the sidelines of a meeting of the Committee on Missing Persons and in the presence of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Cyprus. In addition, the UN Under SecretaryGeneral for Political Affairs, Ibrahim Gambari, visited Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus during 3-9 July. Following a joint meeting on 8 July with President Papadopoulos and Mr Talat, the UN Under-Secretary presented the following “Set of Principles” agreed to by the parties: 1. Commitment to the unification of Cyprus based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation and political equality, as set out in the relevant Security Council resolutions. 2. Recognition of the fact that the status quo is unacceptable and that its prolongation would have negative consequences for the Turkish and Greek Cypriots. 3. Commitment to the proposition that a comprehensive settlement is both desirable and possible and should not be further delayed. 4. Agreement to begin a process immediately, involving bicommunal discussion of issues that affect the day to day life of the people and concurrently those that concern substantive issues, both of which will contribute to a comprehensive settlement. 5. Commitment to ensure that the‘right atmosphere’prevails for this process to be successful. In that connection, confidence building measures are essential, both in terms of improving the atmosphere and improving the life of all Turkish and Greek Cypriots. Also in that connection, an end must be put to the so- called ‘blame game.’ In addition, the two leaders decided that technical committees on issues that affect day to day life would commence work provided that, at the same time, they would also have exchanged a list of issues of substance, the contents of which would be studied by expert bi-communal working groups and finalised by the leaders. The Cyprus Question| A brief Introduction 18
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