Davutoglu to visit Athens next week
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will visit Athens on Friday, December 13, in a bid to boost ongoing negotiations for a Cyprus peace settlement, according to a report on To Vima website.
Reunification of the Mediterranean island, whose 1974 ceasefire lines are monitored by UN peacekeepers, continues to elude an army of international negotiators.
Talks have repeatedly stumbled on issues ranging from power sharing to redrawing territorial boundaries and the property claims of tens of thousands displaced in conflict.
The December 13 meeting was scheduled after pressure from Ankara officials hoping to see progress on the issue, also in light of Greece’s upcoming presidency of the European Union starting January 1st, the report said.
Meanwhile, Turkey, which recently restarted membership talks with the European Union following a 3-year hiatus, would like to see Greece’s six-month presidency coincide with the opening of several so-called “chapters,” according to the same report.
