Turkish Cypriots want peace talks to resume
Turkish Cypriot representatives said Thursday it was willing to resume peace talks with the internationally-recognised government in the Greek south, AFP reported.
“We have no preconditions. We want talks to resume where we left off,” Ozdil Nami,, told reporters after meeting his Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara.
“We want to reach an agreement on a peace plan by March 2014 and then put it to simultaneous votes on both parts of the island,” Nami said.
UN-brokered talks were suspended in mid-2012 when Turkish Cypriots walked out in protest at the south taking the European Union’s rotating presidency.
The Republic of Cyprus has since pushed back any resumption of peace talks with the occupied part of Cyprus, which is recognised only by Turkey, to deal with economic woes and avert bankruptcy.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-engineered coup in the south seeking union with Greece.
A UN blueprint deemed as the best chance to reunify the island was rejected by Greek Cypriots in a referendum in 2004.
Turkey has proposed that representatives from both Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities visit Athens and Ankara in the coming days, a development which Ankara said would help overcome a “psychological barrier.”
The island’s rival leaders would then hold direct talks in November.
“We are keen to see a settlement … There is a window of opportunity ahead of us,” Nami said.
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