Erdogan meets Turkish Cypriot leader before Swiss talks

By Sefa Mutlu

ISTANBUL

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Northern Cypriot counterpart Mustafa Akinci in Istanbul on Saturday ahead of peace talks scheduled between Nov. 7 and Nov. 11 in Switzerland.

Erdogan and Akinci agreed to stay determined to resolve issues through negotiations in the upcoming talks in Mont Pelerin.

Erdogan and Akinci noted that negotiations were at a sensitive juncture, agreeing that a bi-zonal and bi-communal social structure must be legally secured and a system of guarantees must also be determined.

Reunification talks between the Turkish and Greek communities on the island resumed in May 2015 following Akinci’s election and are expected to be resolved by the end of this year with the formation of a federal administration.

Previous negotiations stalled in October 2014 due to a dispute over gas exploration.

The eastern Mediterranean island was divided into a Turkish Cypriot state in the north and a Greek Cypriot administration in the south after a 1974 military coup on the island was followed by the intervention of Turkey as a guarantor power.