Greek Cypriots

Addressing the World Petroleum Congress in Istanbul on July 10, Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan said a "big opportunity" was missed with the recent failure of the Cyprus talks in Switzerland.

In the aftermath of last Friday's collapse of talks to reunify Cyprus, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned energy companies on Monday not to take part in drilling off the island's coast beginning this month, as they could "lose a friend like Turkey."  

The Greek Cypriot side's "negative attitude" against resolution efforts on the island is to blame for the recent failure of Cyprus peace talks, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on July 10.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirm called on Monday for Greek Cypriots to refrain from taking "one-sided measures" after the latest re-unification talks failed.

He demanded that energy sources around the island belonged to both sides.

As long as the Greek Cypriots believe the island only belongs to them and the Turkish Cypriot people are a minority (that might be accorded a special status with some privileged rights), there can never be a bi-zonal or bi-communal federal settlement that the two sides have agreed to establish in principle back in 1977.

Turkish Foreign Ministry's spokesman on July 8 criticized Greek Foreign Minister's remarks over the Cyprus issue.

After a series of failed Cyprus reunification talks between the representatives from the EU, the Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaderships in Swiss Alps, Greece's Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias blamed Turkish side for having 'intervention rights'.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has criticized Greek Cypriots for not showing "good intentions and flexibility" in the reunification talks taking place in the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana. 

With the Cyprus Conference at the Swiss resort of Cras Montana in its second week, there were no signs, at least until late Tuesday, of a breakthrough that could lead to a deal to reunify the ethnically-divided island.

A resolution cannot be an easy task. Some 50 years of intercommunal talks underscore what an uphill road might be ahead for all those who flocked to the Swiss winter resort town of Crans-Montana for the Cyprus conference. No one could challenge U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres's remark that "some sensitive and difficult issues remain to be resolved ...

In Aesop's Fables, a group of mice get together to discuss how to rid themselves of the danger of the cat. After much discussion, they decide to put a bell on it, so that they can hear it when it approaches. Who though, the question then becomes, will bell the cat?