There will be no new talks ‘unless Greek Cypriots change their mentality’ - Turkey's Foreign Minister

There will be no new Cyprus negotiations under UN parameters unless the Greek Cyprus side change their mentality and are willing to share power with the Turkish Cypriots, said Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Cavusoglu made the remarks in an interview with Kathimerini published on Sunday and according to him, negotiations failed because the Greek Cypriot side was not willing to share power. 

They still believe they can absorb them [Turkish Cypriots] into the existing administration instead of establishing a genuine new partnership based on political equality, he said.  

Turkish Cypriots would not accept being restricted to the status of a single minority, he added.

He went on to say that neew negotiations under UN parameters could begin “only if Greek Cypriots change their mentality”. 

We still believe that only a compromise resulting from negotiations can be sustainable. The question is what form this compromise will take and what will be the new goal. This is something that we all have to agree on. And only then can the new negotiations begin, said Cavusoglu.

The two sides of the divided island were currently in a period of reflection and there would be a clearer picture after Sunday’s elections in the south, he concluded.