We still have a window of opportunity for Cyprus reunification: Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister

ANKARA

The Turkish side is still optimistic for resuming reunification talks for the divided island of Cyprus following a failed process in 2017.

“We still have a window of opportunity for the reunification of Cyprus,” Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Kudret Özersay said on March 20 after a joint press conference with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

Çavuşoğlu, for his part, said Greek Cyprus’s approach for Turkey to have “zero soldiers” and “zero guarantees” is “beyond a dream.”

He underlined that Turkey would not allow Greek Cypriots’ unilateral hydrocarbon drilling activities off the coast of Cyprus.

The Turkish Cypriot and the Greek Cypriot leaders, along with the representatives of the guarantor countries, had talks aimed at reunifying the country’s 43-year-long dispute at United Nations-sponsored discussions, but the latest round of a peace attempt failed in the Swiss Alps in June of last year.

At the meeting, Greek Cypriot negotiators reportedly rejected the presence of Turkish troops on the island—troops deployed there to protect Turkish Cypriots from ethnic violence—and also rejected Turkey’s role under treaty as a guarantor country for Cyprus.