Greek FM’s remarks about Cyprus ‘unacceptable’: Turkey
ANKARA
Turkey hit back on July 12 at comments by the Greek foreign minister about the recent conference in Crans-Montana, which failed to find a solution to the long-running division in Cyprus. In a written statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hüseyin Müftüoğlu said Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias earlier this week accused Turkey of displaying an “uncompromising attitude” during the conference.
Müftüoğlu said Kotzias’ remarks are “completely unacceptable,” adding that he is making unfounded allegations and engaging in a blame game.
“Those who know that their approach is unconstructive and wholly devoid of the spirit of compromise are prone to voicing baseless and untrue allegations, in order to blame those who display good faith and constructiveness,” he said.
“As the one responsible for the inability of the Conference on Cyprus to produce results either in Geneva or in Crans-Montana, Greek Foreign Minister Mr. Kotzias’ useless efforts to blame Turkey are actually an attempt to disguise the fact that the negotiations failed because of the lack of good faith and political will on the part of his country and the Greek Cypriot side,” Müftüoğlu added.
“We invite Minister Kotzias, who exerted no effort whatsoever towards a positive conclusion of the conference, to at least act responsibly from now on,” he said.
Representatives from the EU, the Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaderships, and the guarantor nations of Turkey, Greece and the U.K., participated in the discussions in Crans-Montana that started at the end of last month to resolve the dispute.
The U.N. sought a peace deal to unite Cyprus under a federal umbrella that could also define the future of Europe’s relations with Turkey, a key player in the conflict.
The Eastern Mediterranean island has been divided since 1974, when a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by violence against the island’s Turks and Ankara’s intervention as a guarantor power.
