Greek and Cypriot leaders discuss Conference on Cyprus talks

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke on the phone today to discuss Thursday’s Geneva-based Conference on Cyprus.

Cyprus Government Spokesperson, Nikos Christodoulides, tweeted that both leaders discussed the Conference which focussed exclusively on the security and guarantees issues.

His tweet read:

Tsipras did not attend the Conference as Cyprus’ other guarantor powers, the UK and Turkey, did not send their top officials – Prime Minister Theresa May and President Tayyip Erdogan, instead being represented by each nation’s Foreign Ministers.

HISTORY MADE

During the Geneva talks, Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot chief Mustafa Akinci exchanged territorial maps for the very first time since negotiations began.

Another historic moment was the fact that, for the first time, Cyprus and Turkey directly held negotiations.

REPRESENTATION

Greece’s Nikos Kotzias, Turkey’s Mevlut Cavusoglu and Britain’s Boris Johnson were their country’s representatives at the Conference.

The EU was represented by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Foreign Affairs Commissioner, Federica Mogherini.

The UN was represented by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN Special Advisor on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide.

“THEY RAN AWAY, WE’RE STILL HERE”

Following Thursday’s Conference, Kotzias aimed a swipe at Turkey for not remaining in Geneva after Thursday, with Cavusoglu saying he had to return to Ankara to address other issues.

The Greek Foreign Minister told journalists on Friday that Turkey “abandoned” Geneva, and that “those who left ran away, we’re still here.”

“WE’RE GOING TO BE THERE FOREVER”

Also speaking to journalists on Friday after prayers in Istanbul, Erdogan said: “We have told Cyprus and Greece clearly that they should not expect a solution without Turkey as guarantor. We are going to be there forever.

The Turkish President also added that it was “out of the question for Turkish troops to pull out of Cyprus unless both sides [Turkey and Greece] pulled out.”

BACKGROUND

On January 9, Anastasiades and Akinci decided to resume their Swiss-based talks.

On January 11, they historically exchanged territorial maps for the first time since negotiations began.

On January 12, the Geneva-based Conference on Cyprus was convened with the island’s three guarantor powers (Greece, the UK, Turkey), the EU and UN.

On January 18, discussions will continue at a technical level, following the same format as the Conference.

On January 23, the Greek, Turkish and British Foreign Ministers will meet again to continue their Cyprus Problem negotiations.

Anastasiades and Akinci have been engaged in UN-led talks since May 2015 aiming to reunify the island under a federal roof, following Turkey’s 1974 invasion and illegal occupation on the island.

Read more here.

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