Turkey’s insistence on continuing the guarantees treaty, rights of intervention in Cyprus and a permanent Turkish military presence on the island were responsible for the deadlock at the Crans Montana talks on the Cyprus issue, Cyprus government spokesman Nikos Christodoulides said on Saturday.
The reasons for the collapse of the talks “cannot be disputed by anyone,” Christodoulides added, replying to claims made by UN Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide in an interview with the Cyprus News Agency published earlier the same day.
He noted Eide’s adoption of the position held by Athens and Nicosia, namely that there cannot be a Cyprus solution that includes guarantees and rights of intervention in Cyprus by third countries.
“At the same time, some of Mr. Eide’s references in the interview and especially regarding the events at the dinner on July 6 and Turkey’s true intentions confirm what the President of the Republic [Nicos Anastasiades] has publicly pointed out: that, unfortunately, in many cases Mr. Eide believes that what is happening is what he would like to happen and, in this context, he downplays substantial disagreements that arose at the negotiating table,” Christodoulides said.
