Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu
Ankara
By Nazli Yuzbasioglu
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast
Greek Cypriot statements blaming Turkey for the breakdown in Switzerland-based Cyprus talks last week were “wrong and shallow,” Ankara’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.
Mevlut Cavusoglu was in the Ivory Coast, attending a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades has suggested Turkey is to blame for the talks’ failure.
However, Cavusoglu -- who had attended the Switzerland negotiations -- said Anastasiades’s comments had been aimed at domestic politics.
He also said negotiations did not mean accepting “every request” tabled by the other side: “If we are requested [to accept] something nonsense, we will of course refuse.”
The UN had sought a peace deal to unite Cyprus under a federal umbrella which could also define the future of Europe's relations with Turkey, a key player in the conflict.
The Eastern Mediterranean island has been divided since 1974, when a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by violence against the island's Turks, and Ankara's intervention as a guarantor power.
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