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Roundup: Cyprus says U.S. urged resumption of peace negotiations

Xinhua, May 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

Cyprus said on Thursday that United States Vice President Joe Biden urged President Anastasiades to return to peace negotiations with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci after he canceled a session of the talks scheduled for Friday.

Government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides told the state television that Biden made his plea overnight during a telephone conversation with Anastasiades.

A White House statement made available in Nicosia said Biden also spoke with Akinci "to convey the same message on the need to keep moving forward on settlement negotiations."

Christodoulides said Biden and Anastasiades spoke about Anastasiades's decision to suspend the negotiations after he blamed the United Nations for treating Akinci as a state leader during a summit on humanitarian in Istanbul on Monday.

"The U.S. Vice President showed understanding for the President's position," said Christodoulides.

Turkey occupied the northern part of Cyprus in 1974, in reaction to a coup by the military rulers of Greece at the time. Except setting up a breakaway state it also withheld recognition of Cyprus, a UN and EU member state.

This has impacted Turkey's bid to join the European Union as Cyprus blocked several of its negotiations chapters.

The UN Secretary General's special adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide had a meeting with Akinci on Thursday in a bid to have the negotiations restarted.

He later said he is worried when a problem pops up in the negotiating process on Cyprus.

But he added that it is up to the two leaders to decide the schedule of their meetings and said he is ready to meet with Anastasiades whenever he wants.

Anastasiades said in a statement in his personal account on Facebook that despite existing problems never before there has been so good an opportunity for the solution of the Cyprus problem, provided that all sides make use of it with mutual respect.

"Our hand is outstretched to find an honorable solution which will turn Cyprus into a modern EU state," he added. Endit