Cyprus Peace Prospects Dim after Davutoglu Visit
The prospects of a resumption of Cyprus peace talks dimmed Sunday after Turkey's foreign minister pressed Greek Cypriots to initiate any breakthrough during a visit to the breakaway north.
Turkey's Ahmet Davutoglu called on the Greek Cypriots to make "positive" contributions to revive the U.N.-backed talks aimed at reunifying Cyprus, in remarks on Saturday before meeting Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu.
"The statements made by Mr. Eroglu and Mr Davutoglu have torpedoed any possibility for the resumption of a substantive dialogue on the Cyprus problem," government spokesman Christos Stylianides said.
"It is demonstrated that if we enter into a dialogue without a specific basis for the negotiations, we will simply be led toward a deadlock with unforeseen consequences with regard to the prospects of a solution," he said in a statement.
"The Turkish Cypriot leadership, with the contribution of the Turkish side, displayed its persistence on extreme and intransigent positions.
"Under the present circumstances, the president of the republic (Nicos Anastasiades) is not willing to enter into a dialogue for the sake of a dialogue," Stylianides said, calling for the international community to intervene to break the deadlock.
Davutoglu had said the onus was on the Greek Cypriots during a visit Saturday to the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognized only by Ankara.
"We hope that the Greek Cypriot side will make positive contributions to the active efforts of the United Nations," said the Turkish foreign minister.
"Then, it will be possible to achieve permanent peace both in the island and in the eastern Mediterranean," he said, while stressing that "no one should think that the Turkish Cypriots will give up their rights".
U.N.-brokered negotiations were suspended in mid-2012 when the Turkish Cypriots walked out in protest at the internationally-recognized Republic of Cyprus taking the European Union's rotating presidency.
Hopes had been high that negotiations would resume last month, but they have stuttered over the wording of a joint statement on basic principles for the new talks that the Greek Cypriots insist must be agreed before negotiations resume.
The foreign ministers of Greece and Turkey met in Athens on Friday and called for a resumption of talks. But Anastasiades, the Greek Cypriot leader, said a resumption remains a long way off.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third after an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia seeking to unite Cyprus with Greece.
Source: Agence France Presse
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