The position that the "page of the reunification of Cyprus has been closed" and that there is currently no negotiation process, was expressed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Hakan Fidan, in an interview with "Nea", shortly before his visit to Greece and the tomorrow's meeting with his Greek counterpart Giorgos Gerapetritis.
"[It] must now be understood that the page of the "reunification" of the island of Cyprus has been closed", he noted, however, arguing that "the direction of a solution is certainly possible", through different ways of solving.
As he noted, "there is currently no negotiation process because there are deep disagreements about what should be up for negotiation."
"Indeed, it has been recorded by the UN that there is no common ground between the sides. The broad-based informal meeting that will take place in the next period will only provide an exchange of views on what can be done in the future," the Turkish Foreign Minister said.
"There are two separate peoples and two separate states on the island. They can live side by side cooperatively, as neighbors. How they achieve this is something that the two peoples will decide together. There is a need for a new spirit on the island that will make wealth, security, freedom, peace and sovereignty possible for both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots," said Mr. Fidan.
Speaking more broadly about Greek-Turkish relations, he spoke of "positive momentum", which, he said, is due to the "determination of the leaders of the two countries".
"We are increasing our cooperation in many areas on the basis of mutual trust. We are improving our trade relations. We are further strengthening the existing friendship between our peoples," noted the Turkish Foreign Minister.
"As for those who criticize us in our countries, we should better explain to them that the national interests of both Turkey and Greece can only be secured through friendship and cooperation," he added.
At the same time, he talked about the existence of a sincere dialogue with his Greek counterpart Giorgos Gerapetritis "to reduce possible tensions as well as to promote our relations", as he said. At the same time, he emphasized the importance of cooperation between the two countries on the immigration issue.
"Of course, there are important issues on which we disagree, but we continue to see the benefits of keeping communication channels open on both sides," he noted.
Asked about the issue of the marine park in the South Aegean, Hakan Fidan asserted that Turkey is open to cooperation with Greece on the issues of environmental parks, stressing however that "we are against the exploitation of universal values such as the environment for political purposes".
"It is not right for someone to act as if we do not exist on the other side of the Aegean. Because the environment that needs to be protected also affects us," he said, underlining that Turkey has specific sensitivities on this issue.
Regarding the progress of the bilateral dialogue and the issues of pending disputes, the Foreign Minister of Turkey noted that if the current Greek-Turkish dialogue does not lead to comprehensive solutions, then "we will resort to international jurisdiction with a holistic approach."
Source: KYPE