Turkish FM to visit Greece next month
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul is due in Athens next month on his first visit since Turkey’s ruling moderate Islamists rose to power last November, Greek Foreign Ministry officials said yesterday. The announcement of the October 21 visit comes at a time when efforts to reach a peace settlement on Cyprus are stuck in an impasse following the Turkish-Cypriots’ rejection of a United Nations reunification blueprint in February – and ahead of the crucial December 19 vote for a new assembly in occupied northern Cyprus. Foreign Minister George Papandreou is also due to see Gul on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly this week. Papandreou leaves for New York tomorrow, and is expected to discuss the course of the Cyprus peace process with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos will also be in New York.
