Demirel’s cryptic ‘wait and see’

TURKEY will protect its own interests in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as those of the Turkish Cypriots, Turkish President Suleyman Demirel has reaffirmed.

Speaking in Ankara on Friday, he said 1998 would be a “good year” for the Turkish Cypriots, then cryptically added: “Maybe it is time, Let’s see what will happen in the coming days.”

Referring to the EU’s decision to open accession talks with Cyprus, Demirel said he did not understand what the EU could gain from “taking on a major problem like Cyprus.”

Meanwhile in Athens, foreign minister Yiannakis Cassoulides met his Greek counterpart Theodoros Pangalos to discuss the possibilities of Turkish Cypriot participation in the EU negotiations.

In a statement issued after the meeting, Cassoulides said

the two had discussed “parameters within which Turkish Cypriot participation in the talks could be achieved”.

Cassoulides went on to meet with representatives of Cypriot organisations in Greece yesterday.

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.