Turkish Cyprus seeks to start negotiations in October

Turkish Cyprus seeks to start negotiations in October

UNITED NATIONS – Anadolu Agency
Turkish Cyprus seeks to start negotiations in October

Turkish Cypriot President Derviş Eroğlu (L) met with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York on Sept.28. AA photo

Turkish Cypriot President Derviş Eroğlu said Sept. 28 that he wanted to start a comprehensive negotiation process in October, and that the island’s problems could be resolved by March 2014 if the Greek Cypriot side comes to the table.

“We are planning to start negotiations intensively in October and get a result from it. We’ve stressed that we are ready to conduct results-oriented negotiations immediately for a comprehensive solution,” Eroğlu told press members after meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York.

“The Turkish side wants to solve the problem and has proved this with the referendum, but the Greek Cypriot side has shown that it doesn’t want to solve the problem by rejecting all the plans proposed so far,” he said.

Eroğlu also discussed the timetable for a solution. “If the Greek Cypriots come to the table in order to solve the problem, we will reach an agreement on the fundamental issues by the end of the year and on the details by January or February in 2014. Thus, we could resolve the problem completely in March with a referendum to be held in both sides,” he told press members.