October 8 (Sputnik), Ksenia Shakalova - The resumption of negotiations between Greece and Turkey on Cyprus reunification depends on Ankara, Greek Alternate Foreign Affairs Minister Giorgos Katrougalos told Sputnik in an interview, adding that, therefore, he could not predict when the talks would be renewed.
RHODES (Greece) (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 08th October, 2018) HODES (Greece), October 8 (Sputnik), Ksenia Shakalova - The resumption of negotiations between Greece and Turkey on Cyprus reunification depends on Ankara, Greek Alternate Foreign Affairs Minister Giorgos Katrougalos told Sputnik in an interview, adding that, therefore, he could not predict when the talks would be renewed.
"I cannot be positive about [whether the talks will be resumed before the end of the year], it very much depends on how ready is the other side, Turkey, to proceed with that," Katrougalos said on the sidelines of the Rhodes Forum of the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute held on October 5-6.
The Greek alternate minister noted, nevertheless, that despite the lack of progress in the talks, there has been progress in the general understanding of the problem.
"[It happened] exactly because it has been reconfirmed and accepted in the so-called Guterres' framework ... that the Cyprus issue is not an issue between two communities, it is an issue of international law," Katrougalos indicated.
On June 30, 2017, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres presented a framework paper on the Cyprus dispute to the participants of an international conference on the issue in the Swiss town of Crans-Montana.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops entered the island. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was declared in 1983 and is recognized only by Turkey while the international community considers is as a part of the Republic of Cyprus.
