Strong criticism of Eides’s stance
Cyprus momentum down as Kotzias meets Eide
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias held talks with UN Special Envoy to Cyprus Espen Barth Eide on Monday as Nicosia continues efforts to kick-start the stalled peace negotiations.
Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides was set to brief representatives of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (Big Five) before President Nicos Anastasiades holds talks with the leaders of those five nations – namely China, France, Russia, UK and the US.
It is reported that Anastasiades will request from the leaders to put pressure on Turkey not to allow the Cyprus peace talks to collapse. A similar plea will be made by Kasoulides who will also meet with some representatives of EU Member States.
#Athens: FM @NikosKotzias meets w/ #UNSG @antonioguterres Special Advisor on #Cyprus, @EspenBarthEide pic.twitter.com/nzL2QlXvTJ
— Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών (@GreeceMFA) May 29, 2017
Meanwhile, Kotzias – who had publically criticised Eide in the past over what he perceived was ‘favourable treatment of Turkey’ by the Norwegian diplomat – met with Eide on Monday to put forward Greece’s position that the country is ready to sit down for talks with Turkey to discuss the issue of security.
Anastasiades’ government is pointing to three factors which the Greek Cypriot side has led to the breakdown of the talks:
1) Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci’s refusal to meet with Anastasiades
2) The refusal of Akinci to hold a joint press conferene with Anastasiades
3) The refusal by Turkey to agree a date to meet with Eide
The government goes on to say that it does not want to enter into a blame game but rather “outline the position of Turkish side” at this stage of the talks.
Anastasiades and Akinci have come into harsh criticism from peace activists from both communities and a demonstration was recently held at Ledra Street.
Anastasiades, meanwhile, has also been criticised by opposition party leaders over his election campaign. Some pundits, however, claim that Anastasiades was seeking to show a harder side in the talks so that he can appease Greek Cypriot hardliners ahead of the presidential elections in 2018.
The Cypriot president has rejected those claims.
W/ FM @NikosKotzias in Athens at a critical juncture in #CyprusTalks, to share my assessment of the situation and seek the views of Greece. pic.twitter.com/5c7sSsBTZx
— Espen Barth Eide (@EspenBarthEide) May 29, 2017
