Nicosia dismisses Turkish press reports regarding Iran’s mediation

The government of Cyprus has not asked for Iran’s mediation towards Turkey regarding efforts to reach a solution to the Cyprus issue, a Cypriot Foreign Ministry’s source told CNA.

The same source said that during his recent visit to Iran, Cypriot Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou discussed with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki Teheran’s nuclear programme as well as the Cyprus issue, but underlined that neither Teheran nor Nicosia raised the issue of mediation on behalf of Iran regarding the Cyprus issue.

The statement came as Nicosia’s response to a news item published Monday by the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, which said that according to Turkish diplomatic sources, during his recent visit to Teheran, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan was surprised to hear his Iranian counterpart suggesting that Teheran undertakes a role in the efforts to reach a Cyprus solution, a proposal rejected by Babacan.

Invited to comment on the issue, a source by the Cypriot Foreign Ministry told CNA that the Cypriot Foreign Minister held a meeting with his Iranian counterpart before the meeting between Babacan and Mottaki.

During the meeting, he said, they discussed Iran’s nuclear programme as well as the Cyprus issue.

“Neither Teheran raised the issue of mediation regarding the Cyprus problem, nor Nicosia has asked for that,” the same source said.