Cyprus Talks: Turkey's President Erdogan to attend Geneva Summit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said he will be attending the Cyprus conference which will be held in Geneva on 12^th January 2017 when both leaders of the divided island hold a five party conference with the participation of the UN and the guarantor powers.

His spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin who gave the announcement at a press conference at the Presidential Complex in Ankara noted that 2016 was a critical year for the solution of the Cyprus problem and for the reunification of the island.

“2016 is almost ending. Our expectation was to achieve a result from the Mont Pèlerin Summit however this could not be realized. It was extended to 2017”, he said.

“On the Cyprus issue, since the Annan Plan we have always been one step ahead thanks to the statements made by our president. This policy also continues today. Turkey continues to be one step ahead on the Cyprus issue”, he said.

“The two leaders until the 9th of January will continue to take up the issues which they couldn’t reach consensus on during their last two meetings. It is highly important that a model which will be bi-communal, bi-zonal and based on the political equality of the two sides will be revealed”, he said.

“If this can be achieved then it will be significant for the unification of the island and for the security, prosperity and peace of the two peoples on the island” he added.

Kalin went further to say,

“we continue with our constructive stance and I can say that we are very close to the solution of the Cyprus problem if the rights steps can be taken.”

BRT