Neophytou: no settlement without return of Morphou

DISY leader Averof Neophytou said on Sunday the Greek Cypriot side would not accept any Cyprus agreement that did not include the return of Morphou, or that included Turkish guarantees.

In an interview with Politis, he said the behaviour and actions of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was causing concern in the West and in Cyprus, which was going through a very critical period since the negotiations are expected, between August 23 and September 14, to attempt to bridge critical differences between the two sides in all chapters.

The result of this effort would determine the future of the talks, he said and recent Turkish statements about the issue of guarantees did not inspire confidence. Neither the President nor he, nor his party would accept an agreement that includes guarantees or one and in which Morphou would not be be returned.

The two views that could be taken following from the attempted coup in Turkey on July 15 would be either to argue that Erdogan’s behaviour was cause enough to give up trying, or the Turkish leader could improve his current standing by helping resolve the Cyprus issue and regain some credibility, said Neophytou.

“The objective analysis is that you can not at this stage see which way Erdogan is heading because things are not static,” Neophytou said. He added that the recent improvement in Russian-Turkish relations, under certain conditions, could be good news for Cyprus.

However, so far, the Turkish side was increasingly publicly placing red lines with regard to the guarantees and to Morphou, he added.

“For someone who maintains that his [Erdogan’s] position is in favor of a Cyprus settlement, but on the other hand says there will be no return of Morphou, and who insists on Turkish guarantees… I do not think that the President [Anastasiades] will accept such a deal and I can clearly tell you that neither will DISY,” he said.

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