Turkey dedicated to finding Cyprus solution

By Zuhal Demirci

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey is determined to find a solution to the long-divided Cyprus island, a foreign ministry spokesman late Tuesday after UN-mediated reunification talks failed the previous day.

“Turkey’s determination to find a viable solution to Cyprus continues,” said Huseyin Muftuoglu.

“We think that a very important opportunity has been missed in this critical phase of the process,” he added.

It is important to continue talks, he said, and immediately decide a date for a final summit that will be attended by guarantors of the island: Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom.

Negotiations between Greek Cypriot leader, Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akinci, ended Monday in Switzerland without a solution.

“Despite their best efforts, they have not been able to achieve the necessary further convergences on criteria for territorial adjustment that would have paved the way for the last phase of the talks," the UN said in a statement.

The territorial issue is one of the most intractable in the more than 40 years since the Mediterranean island has been divided.