Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister, Ioannis Kasoulides, says that Turkey should take steps together with South Cyprus to solve the Cyprus problem and achieve unification. In an interview with mainland Turkish newspaper, ‘Hurriyet’, he said: “We will send positive messages and I hope the messages we receive will also be positive.” However, he did add that South Cyprus could not guarantee reunification.
Kasoulides, responding to comments by Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, last week, who was pushing for the talks to be speeded up, said that trying to accelerate discussions and pushing for a two-state solution was a recipe for failure.
He added that such comments and references to shared hydrocarbon resources were nothing new on the part of Turkey and that, “Turkey heats and serves the same meal all over again.”
Kasoulides was also dismissive of comments by Turkish EU Minister, Egemen Bagis on the economic crisis in the South which accused the Greek Cypriot government of ineptitude and suggested that they switch to using the Turkish lira, he responded with: “The first step should be to scatter the clouds of accusation, irony and polemic created by Bagis,” Kasoulides said, adding that both sides should convey positive messages.
