By a Staff Reporter
TURKISH Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel, considered a hardliner on the Cyprus issue, yesterday accused the Cyprus government of blocking efforts to reunite the island.
UN-backed peace talks between Turkish and Greek Cypriots have dragged on since January without any tangible headway despite increased urgency for a settlement ahead of the island’s entry into the European Union, probably in 2004 or 2005.
Gurel, in Nicosia this weekend to mark the 28th anniversary of the Turkish troop landing, referred to recent reports that Cyprus’ military had purchased Russian-made Hind helicopters.
“We have always desired peace, but while the Greek Cypriot administration is pushing for peace they purchase attack helicopters as if preparing for an offensive which saddens us and makes us anxious,” Gurel told reporters. “They need to realise this cannot be done when embarking on the road to peace.”
Gurel was named foreign minister last week after his predecessor Ismail Cem quit along with dozens of other deputies who have fled ailing Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit’s party amid a political crisis that forced the left-right coalition government to call early elections this week.
Gurel, who previously served as state minister overseeing relations with Cyprus, has been described as a “hawk” for his tough stance on conditions for a Cyprus settlement and Turkey’s reform efforts to further its own EU bid.
“We desire an end to the Cyprus issue more than anyone,” he said. “An end to the issue is not possible if the realities of the island are not accepted, most importantly, the separate identity of the Turkish Cypriot public and their state.”
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.
