Turkey says Cyprus warming to ide of new talks

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos President was warming to the idea of a new round of reunification talks in Cyprus.

Erdogan said he discussed the issue with Papadopoulos and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Moscow on the sidelines of celebrations marking the defeat of the Nazi regime.

“In our trilateral meeting with Mr. Papadopoulos, Mr. Annan said the referendum was left in the past and that a new process could start,” Erdogan told reporters upon his return from Moscow.

“I saw that southern Cyprus is not against this, unlike his (Papadopoulos’) past statements, I saw that he was positively approaching the implementation of a new process.”

Erdogan said he would discuss the issue in detail when he visits the US in early June.

For more than three decades, the island has been split into a Greek Cypriot-controlled south and a Turkish-controlled north.

A proposed settlement by Annan was overwhelmingly endorsed by Turkish Cypriots in a referendum last year, but rejected by Greek Cypriots.

Many Greek Cypriots opposed provisions that limited the rights of thousands of Greek Cypriot refugees to return to the Turkish-occupied north. They also opposed provisions that would have allowed thousands of settlers from the Turkish mainland to stay.

Annan recently asked both sides to relay their concerns on reunification. Turkish Cypriots have assured Annan him of their determination to find a solution, but the government of Cyprus has yet to respond.

Cyprus joined the European Union last year, but Turkish Cypriots have been excluded from most of the benefits due to the division of the island.

Cyprus was split when the Turkish army invaded the island in 1974 after a failed coup inspired by supporters of union with Greece. The breakaway Turkish Cypriot state is recognised only by Turkey, which maintains 40,000 troops in the north.