Both Turkish and Greek PMs to take part in Cyprus talks

ANKARA (AA) – Following UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s invitation to both Turkey and Greece to take part in Cyprus talks in Zurich late March, Turkish and Greek prime ministers announced that they accepted to participate in the negotiations.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis accepted Annan’s invitation for a quartet meeting to find a certaion solution to the Cyprus issue which was expected to be held in Zurich on March 23. The invitation letter was presented to both prime ministers through UN Deputy Secretary-General Kiran Prendargast.

For Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktas declared that he wouldn’t participate in the meetings, Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat will represent the TRNC.

It was reported that Annan would attend the talks at the end of March. While Karamanlis before rejected to take part in quartet talks, now he declared his participation.

Meanwhile, the intense diplomacy on the island is continuing and the indirect negotiations will also continue today. Firstly, meeting with Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos, UN Special Envoy Alvaro de Soto will have meeting with Denktas. Prendergast also met with Talat.

The United Nations has invited Greece and Turkey to join expanded Cypriot reunification talks in Switzerland on March 23, a semi-official news agency reported on Thursday.

The Cyprus News Agency reported negotiations would start at a resort near Lucerne, Switzerland, with the participation of representatives from Greece, Turkey and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides.

Intensive talks between islanders since February 19 have failed to show any sign of progress in breaking the deadlock persisting for more than three decades.

Additional complications in mediators’ aim for a deal by May 1 was the decision by Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktas on Wednesday not to attend the next phase of negotiations. Cyprus joins the European Union on May 1, divided or united. If no deal is reached membership will effectively be restricted to the Greek Cypriot part, complicating Turkey’s ambitions of
joining the EU in the near future.

A United Nations roadmap for negotiations sees Cypriots negotiating by themselves until March 22 and if no progress is made motherlands Greece and Turkey join in.

If the logjam persists Annan then has a mandate to fill in any unresolved issues in a power-sharing blueprint. There will be separate referendums on it in Cyprus on April 20