Poland supports Cyprus reunification

A Cypriot press and information office handout photograph shows Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades (2-L) meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu (R), at the buffer zone in Nicosia, Cyprus, 04 July 2014. Source: EpA

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades met Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu on Friday in Nicosia, as part of the UN-backed talks on reunification, which were restarted after a declaration was signed in February.

“The government of Poland lends its full support to the talks for unifying Cyprus, on the basis of a bilateral, bi-communal federation with political equality as described in the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions,” Tuge-Erecinska said on Thursday while presenting her credentials at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia.

“We follow the ongoing negotiations with great interest and hope that they will lead to a comprehensive and lasting solution to the problem.”

Tensions still run deep on the Mediterranean island, and UN troops continue to patrol the so-called Green Line that divides the island between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

Turkey invaded in 1974 after a Greek-inspired coup, although at present, the Turkish Cypriot self-styled breakaway Republic of Northern Cyprus, which covers about 36 percent of the island's territory, is only recognised officially by Turkey itself. (nh)

Source: famagusta-gazette.com