Discussions on EU-Turkey relations and any reference in the conclusions of the EU member states leaders will be postponed for April following the consultations and discussions held on the sidelines of the European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
Sources told CNA that following the discussion this week on a possible reference in the European Council’s Conclusions, Cyprus is in coordination mainly with Germany and France with a view to discussing the EU-Turkish relations at the next extraordinary summit in April.
According to the same sources, the aim is to have a strategic discussion prior to the adoption of conclusions, for which there was not enough time at this summit.
It is expected that more countries and the European Commission will be involved in preparing the debate in the coming period, which has been pending since December.
The rationale of this approach is that Turkey will also have the time to send a signal regarding, among other things, the Cyprus issue.
The message being
sent by Nicosia, the sources said, is that EU-Turkish relations can evolve gradually dependent on progress made in the Cyprus problem, adding that Cyprus does not object to a positive agenda on EU-Turkish relations.
Cyprus, an EU member state since 2004, has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
In January, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar of Colombia as his personal envoy for Cyprus, to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf and search for common ground on the way forward in the Cyprus issue.
Source: Cyprus News Agency
