Athens dismisses Davutoglu’s invitation to tea on Cyprus
Turkey’s new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu visited the occupied part of Cyprus on Tuesday and suggested that Greek Premier Antonis Samaras should join him there for peace talks but Athens dismissed his comment.
“If the prime minister is ready, let’s go to the south together, let’s drink tea and discuss matters,” said Davutoglu during a news conference.
“Then, let’s go to the north together. Let’s establish peace here together.”
The Greek Foreign Ministry said it supported the peace talks being overseen by the United Nations.
“It rests with Turkey to contribute to the achievement of a solution by taking substantial initiatives that concern the core of the problem: the existence of occupation forces; failure to respect, on its part, the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights; ongoing settlement; and the counterproductive stance the Turkish-Cypriot side has maintained thus far in the intercommunal talks,” said spokesman Constantinos Koutras.
