Italian FM says Cyprus talks should continue

ITALIAN Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said hoped that the “disastrous” result of the referendum on the reunification of Cyprus last April dishearten the peace talks aimed at reunification of the island.

After meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister, Abdullah Gul, who was invited to Rome by Unicredit, Fini requested more efforts on both sides leaning towards the opinion of Gul on the Cyprus issue.
“I share Gul’s stance, which sees the plan of UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan as the only possible way. But the result of the referendum has been a shock and no one expected the Greek-Cypriots to be the most hostile. But we must not give up.

“The Italian government hopes that everybody will show their sense of responsibility: we ask the Turks to have an open approach to normalise relations with Cyprus; a positive approach can overcome the difficulties in Nicosia. Mutual respect is of paramount importance.

It would be very dangerous”, added Fini, if after the shock following the result of the referendum we would dodge responsibilities.

Italy believes it has the sensibility to make progress and restart the process identified by Annan but blocked by the disastrous result of the referendum. But Italy does not only care about appearances”. Fini has often stated that “the Cyprus issue is not a bilateral problem, but a problem between the EU and Turkey”.

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.