Erdogan fiesta not seen derailing peace talks

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit occupied Cyprus to mark the anniversary of the 1974 invasion Tuesday. Officials in Athens expect a kitsch celebration of Ankara’s neo-Ottoman ambitions designed to serve as a reminder of the legacy of occupation that will however fall short of derailing peace talks.

Kathimerini understands there is Western pressure for negotiations to restart, possibly after September’s UN General Assembly. A phone call between Erdogan’s adviser Ibrahim Kalin and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Friday was seen as basic diplomatic compliance on Ankara’s part.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Kathimerini, Turkey’s presidential communications director, Fahrettin Altun, backed a two-state solution for Cyprus. “[The two sides] cannot live together under the same roof,” he said. “We have to be realistic if we do not want to pass this dispute onto our children.”