Turkish FM talks to UN adviser over Cyprus after failed talks
ANKARA
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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu spoke with United Nations Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide over the phone late Nov. 27 after a recent failure in peace talks.Çavuşoğlu and Eide discussed the latest developments to find a peaceful solution to the more than 40-year-old conflict on the eastern Mediterranean island, Doğan News Agency reported citing Turkish diplomatic sources.
The conversation came a week after the second round of intensified negotiations under the auspices of the U.N. in the Swiss resort town of Mont Pelerin that ended without a deal.
Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı is scheduled to meet Eide on Nov. 28 in Nicosia.
After meeting Çavuşoğlu on Nov. 25 and attending a meeting with leaders of local political parties, Akıncı called on the Greek Cypriot side to soon determine a date for a five-party meeting with the guarantor powers to achieve a goal of finding a final solution to the dispute over the island by the end of 2016.
“If all sides aim for a solution, the thing to be done is clear,” he said. “We should decide on a date to call a five-party conference.”
He said that in such a gathering, Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots could discuss the main issues between the two nations, while Turkey, Greece, and Britain discuss matters of security and guarantees.
The much-heralded talks in Mont Pelerin between Akıncı and his Greek Cypriot counterpart, Nicos Anastasiades, 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.
But the U.N. announced late Nov. 21 that the second round of the intensified talks had proven inconclusive.
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos told reporters on Nov. 22 that Greece was “open” for talks with Turkey on the Cyprus issue.
“We think this issue is open; we will proceed carefully,” Tzanakopoulos told reporters, as reported by AFP.