Greece sees chance for ‘just and viable’ solution to Cyprus issue
Greece is committed to resolving the decades-long division of Cyprus and its prime minister will join talks in Geneva this week if there is a willingness by all sides to agree on security concerns.
The Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders sat down to reunification talks in Geneva on Monday after 18 months of intensive peace talks.
“The Greek government is committed to working hard to finding a solution,” government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos told a news briefing on Thursday.
“If there is willingness by all side to find a commonly agreed solution regarding security… then the prime minister will travel to Geneva and we will have a chance to reach a just and viable solution to the Cyprus issue,” he said.
The two sides disagree on security, and specifically the role Turkey and its 30,000 troops stationed in the occupied north will play in any reunification of the country as a two-state federation.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of Britain, Greece and Turkey were meeting in Geneva on Thursday in an attempt to thrash out a security deal for a reunited Cyprus.
The conference is being chaired by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his first major involvement in a deep-rooted conflict which has been on the UN’s agenda for more than half a century.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was also in attendance.
Discussions were going to be held in private, the UN said.
[Reuters]
