NICOSIA - The Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr Rauf Denktash, yesterday accepted the invitation of the President of Cyprus, Mr Glafkos Clerides, to meet to discuss a proposal for the demilitarisation of the island submitted by Mr Clerides in 1993, writes Michael Jansen.
Mr Denktush conditioned such discussions on the maintenance of the "guarantees" provided for each Cypriot community by their respective motherlands in the 1960 agreements under which Cyprus gained its independence. Mr Clerides had earlier rejected a call by the Turkish Cypriot leader for a meeting to defuse intercommunal tensions.