Turkey’s new stance on Cyprus

It was no surprise that the negotiations at the Crans-Montana resort in Switzerland to reunify Cyprus and end the decades-long conflict collapsed yet again. Ankara used the conference to formalize its intransigent position on maintaining troops presence on Cyprus due to its role as a guarantor.

The question now is what Turkey’s next steps will be.

Presumably, these decisions will be made at the highest levels in the Turkish capital, but they will be done so in coordination with the Turkish Cypriots. It’s quite likely that they’ve already made their plans and considering that the regime is unpredictable, nothing can be taken for granted.

The only thing that is certain is that Turkey is now treating the Cyprus question on a new basis, one that does not have a bi-zonal or bi-communal solution as its starting point.

It is expected that Turkey’s intentions will become clearer from how it deals with the matter of Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone.