In brief
No progress in Cyprus talks after Turkish Cypriot authorities back partition
Ankara government supports island’s division
Under UN auspices, talks brought together the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus (Greek Cypriots), the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (recognised only by Turkey) and Turkey, Greece and the UK.
There are still “not enough common grounds to allow for the resumption of formal negotiations”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said.
The Republic of Cyprus insists that negotiations for the establishment of a north-south federation with a single international personality, as agreed by the authorities of the two halves of the island in 2008, should be resumed.
But the fact is that the current president of North Cyprus, Ersin Tatar, attended the talks with a proposal that buries the federal idea, and calls instead for the recognition of an “equal international status” and the “inherent sovereign equality” of the two states before negotiating a “cooperative relationship.” In short, Tatar —and Turkey— are banking on the definitive partition of the island, between a Turkish Cypriot state in the north and a Greek Cypriot state in the south.
Guterres said that new talks will be held “in the near future.”