Nicosia does not expect any developments on the possible reunification of Cyprus during the next six months, Cypriot Foreign Minister George Iacovou said on Saturday.

Speaking on his return to Larnaca from Brussels, Iacovou indicated there were three factors which made a swift resolution unlikely. He said the UN was dealing with more important issues at the moment, Turkish-Cypriot political parties were moving toward elections in occupied northern Cyprus, and, finally, the new makeup of the US State Department had to be approved by the Senate — something which, in Iacovou’s opinion, would take three months to happen.

Meanwhile, the Athens News Agency quoted Turkish newspaper Zaman as saying that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will ask for reunification talks to begin based on the plan proposed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and rejected by Greek Cypriots in an April referendum last year. Erdogan is due to meet with Annan at the World Economic Forum which will take place in the Swiss town of Davos between January 26 and 30.