The latest developments in the Cyprus negotiations were the focus of a meeting between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the General Secretary of Greek Cypriot AKEL party Andros Kyprianou in Athens.

During the meeting, Kyprianou briefed the Greek Prime Minister on the issues that are still pending at the UN-led peace talks, which aim to reunite the country, divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion and occupation.

Tsipras said that the Cyprus issue is always a matter of Turkey’s will. He noted that efforts underway at bilateral level with Cyprus are very important and that the Greek government is in very close contact with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades.

“We are at a point in the negotiations, in anticipation to see if there is a realistic prospect of a solution,” he said, adding that so far “we haven’t seen anything yet.”

In his remarks, Kyprianou said that AKEL considers as extremely important the issue of security and that there can be no guarantees system and intervention rights in an EU member country. AKEL, he noted, will not accept the presence of troops on the island after a solution and supports the island’s full demilitarization.

As for the possibility of convening an international conference, Kyprianou stressed that such a conference could only be convened if and when there is broad convergence on all other issues, apart from the question of security which will be discussed at the conference. He also noted that his party believes that in such a conference the UN Security Council permanent members, the Republic of Cyprus, the two communities and the three guarantor powers (Greece, Turkey and the UK) should participate.

Kyprianou noted that the next month is crucial for the negotiations because the pending issues are those that need Turkey’s political decisions. During this period, Turkey will show, as he said, if it really wants a solution or not.