Eroglu gloomy over talks

TURKISH CYPRIOT leader Dervis Eroglu foresees a gloomy ending to the ongoing peace talks and hopes the UN chief will take the “necessary steps”, according to Turkish Cypriot press reports. 

Yesterday’s daily Kibris said Eroglu showed great pessimism on the prospects of a positive outcome from the tripartite meeting to take place in New York at the end of January with President Demetris Christofias and the UN chief.  

Speaking during a meeting with the Paphos Turkish Union on Tuesday, Eroglu said: “I think that the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will see in January that there can be no solution on the island and will take the necessary steps.” 

Eroglu argued that the Turkish Cypriots support a lasting and viable solution in Cyprus but that the Greek Cypriot side “was pushed into a situation of not wanting an agreement with its accession into the EU”. 

He called on the international community and Europe to lift the so-called embargoes on “those who want a solution”. 

Eroglu reiterated his view that a solution based on the “realities” on the island was possible, if the Greek Cypriots accepted that there could be no return to the pre-1974 period.  

“An agreement which will lead to a situation worse than the one existing today is not possible. I wish we could achieve progress by January,” he said.  

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.