Cavusoglu indicates tough stance on Cyprus talks, East Med

The Turkish Cypriot community is no longer willing to sit at the table “just to negotiate,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday, indicating a tougher stance towards UN-brokered talks aimed at reunifying the divided island.

“They sent this message clearly in the last election,” the state-run Anadolu Agency reported him as telling the 12th Ambassadors Conference in Ankara, referring to last month’s election of hardliner Ersin Tatar as head of the Turkish-occupied north of Cyprus, which is recognized only by Turkey.

Referring to ongoing tension with Athens and Nicosia, Cavusoglu also said that “no one should expect Turkey to give up resources it has a right to” in the Eastern Mediterranean, while adding that any initiative seeking to “exclude” Turkey from tapping natural gas and oil reserves has “no chance of success.”