LEFKOSA, Northern Cyprus
The president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus called on Greece’s newly elected prime minister to change the country’s Cyprus policy “radically,” as negations on the divided island stalled last October.
“If Greece’s new prime minister Alexis Tsipras really wants to have a positive and peaceful contribution to his country and to the region, he should change their Cyprus policies radically,” said Dervis Eroglu in a public availability session in Lefkosa.
The charismatic leader of anti-austerity party Syriza, the 40-year-old Tsipras won a historic victory on Jan. 25 election.
“Tsipras should accept that there is also a Turkish community in Cyprus as sovereign as Greeks,” Eroglu added.
The Greek Cypriot administration suspended talks in October 2014 in retaliation for Turkey’s warship mission to monitor oil-and-gas exploration activity off the Cyprus coast.
Turkey objects to the Greek Cypriot administration's plans to unilaterally exploit hydrocarbon resources off the island.
Negotiations between the two sides had resumed after a two-year pause in February 2013.
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