Greek Cyprus rebuffs Turkish side’s offer

NICOSIA - Anatolia News Agency

Greek Cypriot President Anastasiades’s attitude was criticized by Turkey. AFP photo

Greek Cyprus has rebuffed the offer of Turkish Cypriots to start negotiations, claiming that conditions are not “convenient” at the moment.

“The aim in the Cyprus issue should not be to start the negotiation process. The important thing is to get a result. Current conditions are not convenient at the moment for taking initiative,” Christos Stylianides, the government spokesman, said.

He was apparently responding to Hüseyin Özgürgün, the foreign minister of Turkish Cyprus, who said April 4 Turkish Cyprus was willing to resume stalled reunification talks. Özgürgün said they were waiting to see Greek Cyprus’ response to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s special adviser for Cyprus, Alexander Downer, on launching negotiations that had been suspended in 2012 before the Greek Cypriot elections. 

Stilianidis, however, said finding a solution to the issue was among their priorities, adding that his side was ready to be a part of a solution process if there were significant content and perspective. He also said there was a need for serious preliminary preparation to guarantee a result regarding the Cyprus issue. 

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu also criticized on April 7 Greek Cyprus’ stable manner regarding the matter. “The attitude [Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades] adopted after the elections has created disappointment. [Turkish Cypriot President Derviş Eroğlu] made a call for a meeting at the earliest [opportunity]. We were all expecting that both could have at least come together [by now], but the information that we have obtained lends the impression that this won’t be possible in the near future."