Cavusoglu attacks Akinci after comment on 'horrible' Turkey-north annexation

Turkish Foreign Minister Melvut Cavusoglu described Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci as "unreliable," after the later said the prospect of Crimea-style annexation with Turkey was "horrible".

"I've never worked with a more unreliable politician," he said in a press conference on Monday.

Speaking to the Guardian in an interview published last week, Akinci warned that Cyprus runs the risk of permanent partition, and highlighted that the differences between the two sides of the island are growing more entrenched, diminishing the prospect of reaching an equitable federal solution that would reunite the island.

Akinci, who launched his re-election campaign last week in view of presidential elections set to take place in the north in April, stressed the urgency of reaching a viable solution.

If one is not found, he said, the north would grow increasingly...