In an interview with Greek-language daily Kathimerini, published on Sunday, Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said a prerequisite for a gas pipeline to Turkey is a solution to the Cyprus problem.
In reference to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s energy aspirations, Kasoulides said a Cyprus reunification deal could offer the possibility of routing a gas pipeline from the eastern Mediterranean to Turkey, either for domestic consumption or for transport to Europe.
“[Such a development] implies, of course, a solution to the Cyprus problem for which Turkey is invited to contribute via stances that would allow a settlement, rather than positions that lead to dead ends,” Kasoulides said.
The Foreign Minister also said he did not consider any review in June of the recent EU-Turkey deal on stemming migrant flows would constitute a milestone for Cyprus peace talks, neither would it herald a return to the subject of opening Turkey’s frozen EU accession chapters.
In the run-up to the controversial EU-March refugee deal, President Nicos Anastasiades had insisted there could be no opening of frozen EU accession chapters for Turkey – part of a slew of demands by Turkey in negotiating the migrant deal with the bloc – until Ankara allowed Cypriot traffic to its sea and airports.
Asked his assessment of the EU-Turkey migrant deal, Kasoulides said that, given that only a few weeks had passed since the agreement, and it had only come into operation as of April 4, what had to be evaluated was the deal’s actual application.
The Foreign Minister described Turkey’s bid to unfreeze accession chapters as unjustifiable and said the Republic’s EU partners had recognised in time that any decision on these chapters would create problems for the Cyprus peace process.
“It is for this reason that the pressure to unfreeze these chapters was circumvented by our partners,” he said.
“Since, in the assessment of [Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet] Davutoglu, before the European Council, we are close to solving the Cyprus problem,” continued the Foreign Minister, the problem of Turkey’s accession chapters would be automatically solved upon the securing of a Cyprus settlement.
Regarding the peace talks, Kasoulides said what remained in play were the most critical points, which were slowing the pace of progress.
“When you negotiate the details, you encounter fresh problems that need to be resolved,” he said.
Regarding developments in the island’s north, Kasoulides said Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci was facing domestic problems and that Turkey should offer him visible support rather than espousing positions – such as calling for an additional number of settlers to be granted ‘TRNC citizenship’ – which only complicated peace talks and could potentially create deadlocks.
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