Eroglu, Davutoglu have torpedoed all efforts to resume Cyprus talks

The statements made by Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Friday have torpedoed any possibility for the resumption of a substantive dialogue in the Cyprus problem, according to government spokesman Christos Stylianides who said that during the last three months, President Nicos Anastasiades and the Greek Cypriot side have struggled constructively to break the deadlock and to enter, at last, into a process of substantive talks with a prospect for a positive conclusion.
The spokesman added that “if we enter into a dialogue without a specific basis for the negotiations, we will simply be led toward a deadlock with unforeseen consequences with regard to the prospects of a solution”.
Stylianides said that the Turkish Cypriot leadership, with the contribution of the Turkish side, displayed its persistence on extreme and intransigent positions, and noted that under the present circumstances, PresidentAnastasiades is not willing to enter into a dialogue for the sake of a dialogue.
Moreover, the spokesman underlined that the international community has the obligation, in the context of these new facts of the geopolitical rearrangements in the Eastern Mediterranean, to help so that the region enters, at last, into a process for peace, stability and cooperation.
He also said that President Anastasiades and the Greek Cypriot side will continue with the same constructive approach, which emanates from the decisions and the resolutions of the United Nations, “believing that cooperation and stability in the region is to the benefit of all the people of this region and in particular, of course, of the people of Cyprus as a whole, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots alike”.