Brussels, 05/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 5 November, the Turkish Foreign Minister, Egemen Bagis, was fairly optimistic that a solution to the Cypriot question could be found.
During a press conference in Brussels, he said: “I'm much more optimistic than I was six months ago”. He stated that he hoped that the two sides, “Turkish and Greek Cypriots” would be able to find a way to reach a solution and added that “I hope that a new plan… will be able to emerge by the end of the year and can be voted on by the beginning of 2014”.
The Turkish minister said that his country had proposed meeting the Greek Cypriot foreign minister in Ankara and Greece had agreed to meet the Turkish Cypriot foreign minister in Athens, “which we hope will lead to more talks”.
Bagis underlined the “interesting choice” Greek Cypriots had made by electing Nicos Anastasiades president, “the only politician who had supported the Annan plan”. According to Bagis, “this shows that Greek Cypriots understood that failure to reunify and rejection of the Annan plan is one of the most significant reasons for the economic disaster on the island”. He stated that Turkey had encouraged Turkish Cypriots to remain committed to the discussions.
Turkey has occupied the northern part of the island since 1974. (CG/transl.fl)