NICOSIA — Turkish saber-rattling in the Eastern Mediterranean continues to heighten fears of a looming confrontation between Turkey and its longtime foe Cyprus. Its most immediate effect, however, appears to have been to spook Greek Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, who have agreed to meet for informal discussions on Aug. 9, rekindling hopes of a fresh round of UN-brokered peace talks to reunite the divided island.
The talks will be held at the UN representative’s office in Nicosia. The two leaders have since been invited by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to meet with him in September in New York for trilateral talks.
Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides confirmed that the main goal of the Aug. 9 encounter is to establish conditions to allow the restart of negotiations on the Cyprus problem. He added, however, that this means that Turkey will need to create the “right climate for them” and, therefore, cease drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The row over the Eastern Mediterranean pitting Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots against Greece and the Greek Cypriots is notionally over who gets to drill for the basin’s real and imagined gas riches and where and when under international law. Turkey’s bellicosity has clearly concentrated minds, especially the Greek Cypriots’.
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