Cyprus–Greece relations

The details of discussions U.S. Vice President Joe Biden had during his Jan. 23 visit to Turkey with President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and other top Turkish executives, as well as his talks with the Israeli and Greek Cypriot leaders, keep emerging.

Turkish Cypriot presidency has expressed its wish that the elections scheduled for May to elect Greek Cypriot administration will not harm the ongoing peace talks between the two sides. 

The four-page document that Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Anastasiades gave to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a meeting at Davos on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum underlined once again how delusional it might be to expect a quick Cyprus fix.

Ever since I started covering the Cyprus issue in 1990, I have heard two main things from Turkish officials, whom I considered to have the most rational and realistic approaches: 

1 - The parameters of the solution are known to both sides, there's no need to discover America over and over again. What is needed is for the actors to take the bitter pill and go that last extra mile. 

The trilateral meeting of Greece-Cyprus-Israel took place in a cooperative and positive atmosphere, while Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as an historical meeting stressing that he does not use this word very often.

"The visit has achieved the objectives we set at the outset ? To meet the Turkish prime minister and foreign minister, who can take on board the positions of the Greek Cypriot side," said Greek Cypriot Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) head Andros Kyprianou on his return to the island after visiting Turkey over the weekend.

Who managed to convince the Greek Cypriot leadership to drop its intransigence and agree to meet with the Turkish Cypriot leader in the presence of the U.N. secretary-general? Was it the Americans, or the British, or combined brinkmanship?

It is a fact that many people, including this writer, have been attacking Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Ak?nc? for speaking with a more pro-Greek tone than what ought to be a pro-Turkish Cypriot rights focus. In his own words, Ak?nc?

Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos gave a Christmas sermon stating that the aim of Turkey is to occupy the whole of Cyprus. His message for all Christian churches of Cyprus described Turkey’s goal to govern all of Cyprus.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said his country is interested in operating Greek Cypriot ports and to help turn the small east Mediterranean island nation into a regional shipping hub.

Yi also said after talks on Dec. 21 with his Greek Cypriot counterpart, Ioannis Kasoulides, that China is looking to develop industrial zones around the ports.