NEWS

Anastasiades alleges US, UN pressure to restart Cyprus talks

A day after the Cyprus government slammed a report by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as biased, President Nicos Anastasiades Friday said he was being pressured to restart peace negotiations unconditionally.

In a televised interview late Thursday, Anastasiades said that despite assurances by the UN and Washington that Ankara would tone down its aggressive foreign policy so that he would return to the negotiating table, Turkish policy has not changed.

Anastasiades added that the ambassador of a big power, which he did not name, had told him that before talks resumed, Turkey was going to lift the embargo on Cyprus-flagged vessels. Instead, he said, Ankara went on to renew its Navtex.

“I will not bow, under any circumstances, and be dragged into talks under threat or blackmail,” he said.

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