Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras asked Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to meet and discuss Cyprus’ guarantees system, which remains among the most complex issues within the ongoing negotiations, during recent calls to Ankara, ANA-MPA government sources said on Monday.
According to ANA-MPA’s sources, Tsipras told Erdogan “differences between the two sides remain and any multilateral meeting before this issue is settled is bound to fail.”
The Greek PM and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades also agreed that the latter proposes a date for the multilateral meeting on the condition that Tsipras met with Erdogan prior to those talks.
Tsipras had been in contact with Turkey’s leadership as well as Anastasiades during the past week as talks between Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, concerning the territorial adjustment issue, were held in Mont Pelerin, Switzerland from November 20-21.
NO AGREEMENT ON TERRITORY
Those talks failed to come to an agreement, it was revealed on Monday evening, with Cyprus Government Spokesperson Nikos Chrostodoulides rejected and denouncing criticism aimed by Akinci’s Spokesperson Baris Burcu following the talks.
An agreement on territory must be reached before the final two crucial issues concerning security and guarantees can be discussed.
MULTI-PARTY CONFERENCE
If an agreement were to be reached on territorial adjustment a multi-party conference involving Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriot leadership, and the island’s three guarantor powers – Greece, Turkey and the UK – on the two remaining issues has widely been reported to be in the pipeline.
Chrostodoulides confirmed that was the case when addressing the press after Monday’s talks: “We were ready to give a date for the conference on the security and guarantees issues if there was an agreement on territory and if a map was drafted based on that.”
That conference would focus, particularly on the presence of 30,000 Turkish troops that remain in the island’s occupied areas after the 1974 Turkish invasion.
Turkish Cypriots insist on Turkey maintaining its right to intervene militarily – a notion the Republic of Cyprus flatly rejects, according to Anadolu Agency.
BACKGROUND
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and illegally occupied its northern third.
Anastasiades and Akinci have been engaged in UN-led talks since May 2015, with a view to reunite the island under a federal roof.
If a final agreement is reached it will be put to both communities in a referendum. A 2004 peace deal, the ‘Annan Plan’, was approved by Turkish Cypriots but overwhelmingly rejected by Greek Cypriots.
Read more here.
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
