Athens insists meeting between PM and Erdogan must precede final Cyprus summit

The government repeated Tuesday that it believes a meeting between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a "necessary precondition" before a multilateral final summit, scheduled for January 12 in Geneva, about Cyprus can go ahead.

Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said Tuesday that "diplomatic contacts" were being made so that announcements will soon be forthcoming "on the specifics."

Tzanakopoulos's remarks came as United Nations-backed reunification talks between Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci resumed Tuesday after their collapse last month. The Greek-Cypriot leader will meet Wednesday with Tsipras and other European officials on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels.

Anastasiades described the January summit - where post-settlement security arrangements will be...