CYPRUS only stands to benefit from Greco-Turkish rapprochement, Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides insisted yesterday.
Commenting on reports that the government was frustrated with Greece over its new friendship with Turkey, Cassoulides said there were some misconceptions on the island over the rapprochement efforts.
“The Cypriot people tend to get emotional because there is an ongoing occupation and continuing Turkish threats, so its difficult for them to take a liking to a friendship offered by Greece to Turkey and to see it in a good light,” he said. “Moves need to be made to change public opinion. On the one hand, there is the rapprochement, but on the other hand, improvement in relations between Greece and Turkey will only happen if there is progress on Cyprus.”
Cassoulides said he did not agree with the recent impression that the Cyprus problem was being ignored in the rapprochement. “I see what Greek diplomacy is doing every day so it would be ridiculous to say the Cyprus problem is being ignored,” he said.
Reports earlier this week were critical of Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou for spending more time dancing and joking around with his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem than discussing the Cyprus issue during talks in Greece and Turkey last weekend.
The two ministers had made it clear their talks would steer away from core disputes to concentrate on ‘low-level’ bi-lateral issues.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
