There is no timetable for convening a five-party conference on the Cyprus issue and it is not expected to take place this summer, Greek diplomatic sources have said, according to CNA.
The same sources stressed that Ankara appears to be maintaining its positions and there are no signs of a change in stance. Athens is nonetheless monitoring United Nations efforts to restart the process and reiterates at every opportunity that a solution can only be achieved within the framework of UN resolutions and the agreed basis.
On the NATO summit, the sources said Turkey’s casus belli constitutes a formal threat of war that is not diminished by the passage of time or by public familiarity. “It is reduced only by its definitive withdrawal,” diplomatic sources said.
They added that as long as the threat of war remains, Ankara cannot participate in any European defence scheme such as SAFE.
Too early to say
Asked to comment on the reports, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Thursday evening it was too early to determine whether recent contacts with Turkey would yield results on the Cyprus issue. Any expanded conference would be held only when conditions are right for a positive outcome, he added.
“Whether the results of the meetings will be positive, we will see very soon in practice,” he told reporters in Nicosia, noting that both the Presidents of the European Commission and European Council had contacted him to brief him on their dinner with the Turkish president on Wednesday evening on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
Christodoulides said it was significant that the EU conveyed agreed positions, including those of the Republic of Cyprus, on how to achieve progress in EU-Turkey relations. He reiterated that positive developments in those relations require Turkey to fulfil its obligations, including making substantive progress on the Cyprus issue.
The president added that EU officials had also discussed developments with the UN Secretary-General, while he had received messages from the UNSG’s personal envoy on Cyprus regarding a forthcoming visit to the island and other European capitals.
“We are working so that we will soon have positive announcements,” he said.
Asked about reports citing Greek diplomatic sources on the absence of an expanded conference, Christodoulides said the timing would depend on results. “An expanded conference is to take place so that we have positive results. We are currently focused on creating those results, and depending on developments, a date will be set,” he said.
