Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, is hopeful that the ongoing reunification talks on the island will enter a phase which includes the guarantor countries entering the negotiations, he says.
Speaking to Turkish daily Sabah, after his meeting with President Akinci in Davos on Thursday, the Turkish PM said he was pleased that President Akinci had been able to attend a high-level diplomatic platform such as Davos. He expressed the hope that the two sides would achieve success in the forthcoming months.
Davutoglu noted that he had met with British Prime Minister David Cameron in London earlier in the week. He said that he had also met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday at Davos.
Meanwhile, Kibris Gazetesi reports that PM Davutoglu had said they expected a roughly outlined road map to emerge.
After he met with Ban Ki-moon on Thursday, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Davutoglu said that they had discussed the Cyprus negotiations and other regional issues.
Asked if he was expecting a referendum in Cyprus in the forthcoming months, the Turkish PM said:
“The negotiations regarding the Cyprus problem are advancing positively. Before coming here, we had the opportunity to discuss these issues in Britain as a guarantor power. We had our first meeting as soon as we came here with Mr Akinci. For the first time the TRNC is at a platform like Davos, the TRNC president Akinci and the Greek Cypriot leader have been here as equals and addressed the guests. This is an important indicator.
Mr Espen Barth Eide, who is carrying out the negotiations on behalf of the UN, is also here. During the meeting I had with Mr Ban Ki-moon, I told him that we should gradually come to the stage during which the guarantor states are also participating in the process, because there is a tendency towards a certain consensus on the basic issues. We hope that more constant steps are taken on these issues.
The meeting held here in Davos with Kofi Annan in 2004 had paved the way for Annan, making the process his own. We hope that a similar process happens now and within the forthcoming months the sides will come together and find the opportunity to create a common ground in the direction of reaching a lasting solution to the Cyprus problem.”
Daily Sabah, Kibris Gazetesi
