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| AFP photo |
Greece is “open” for talks with Turkey on the Cyprus issue, Athens said Nov. 22, one day after key negotiations between the island’s leaders ended without a deal.
“We think this issue is open, we will proceed carefully,” Greek government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos told reporters, AFP reported.
The much-heralded talks in the Swiss resort of Mont Pelerin between Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart, Mustafa Akıncı, were supposed to produce a map of the internal boundaries of a future federation and pave the way for broader talks aimed at reaching a deal by early next year.
Tzanakopoulos had been asked about speculation that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was arranging to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, reportedly on Dec. 4.
Tzanakopoulos said that during a phone call with Erdoğan on Nov. 18, Tsipras “expressed desire for a bilateral meeting” but added that no specific date had been set.
“After yesterday’s [breakdown in talks] we will see what happens,” the spokesman said.
Like the five days of negotiations earlier in November, the two-day session convened under the auspices of the United Nations broke up in the early hours of Nov. 22 without progress, and with each side blaming the other.
Speaking to the press in Nicosia upon arrival from Switzerland, Akıncı said an Erdoğan-Tsipras meeting would contribute to the negotiation process, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
“We are not going to flee from the negotiation,” Akıncı said, adding that the Turkish Cypriot side would not be the reason for failing to reach a solution.
Akıncı said talks in Mont Pelerin were deadlocked due to the Greek Cypriot insistence on the territorial issue.
“[The Greek Cypriot side] has proposed the final result that they wanted to see on territory at the first meeting and created this deadlock by insisting on this mistake,” Akıncı told reporters early Nov. 23 at Ercan Airport in Nicosia.
He said the Greek Cypriots took their position on territory even before agreeing on a rotating presidency and active participation on resolutions – crucial topics for Turkish Cypriots.
“I tried to explain to them that we cannot accept efforts to bring Turkish Cypriots to a point where we cannot negotiate,” he added.
The island was divided between a Greek south and a Turkish north when the Turkish military intervened in 1974 under the terms of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee in response to an Athens-backed coup aiming to unite the island with Greece.
Akıncı said the Turkish Cypriot Parliament would have an extraordinary meeting on Nov. 24 to discuss the latest developments.
“We will continue our well-intentioned efforts and aim. However, I would like to underline that the Greek Cypriot side’s attitude is very important,” he said.
Greek Cypriot government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said Nov. 22 that the Greek Cypriot side did not want to play a blame game especially during what was a difficult evening for Cyprus and that the Greek Cypriot side and Anastasiades were not happy with the way the talks had concluded, according to Cyprus-Mail.
