Cyprus dispute

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has criticized controversial remarks by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who on Tuesday questioned the legitimacy of the Cypriot flag which depicts the entire island.

"Such comments are unacceptable," Anastasiades said after talks with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in Nicosia on Wednesday.

A peaceful solution on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus is within reach "with flexibility and creativity," U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said before a visit to the island on Nov. 30. 

"With further flexibility and creativity by all sides involved, we believe a solution is within reach," said Johnson in a written statement issued by the ministry on Nov. 29.

Nicosia has reacted to controversial remarks by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who on Tuesday slammed Cyprus for using its flag as representative of the whole island.

Just days before his meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, along with the leader of the Turkish Republican People's Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, went on a nationalistic rant against Greece and Cyprus during an international conference on trade in Turkey Tuesday, dampening expectations regarding the outcome of the weekend talks between the two le

A United Nations envoy says he will employ shuttle diplomacy to help Cyprus' rival leaders get back to the negotiating table after reunification talks broke down last week.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu spoke with United Nations Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide over the phone late Nov. 27 after a recent failure in peace talks.

"When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers," an ancient proverb of the Kikuyu people, a tribal group in Kenya, says in underscoring the bitter part of life. What is the fight in Cyprus? Are Cypriots the fighting elephants of the grass that has been so badly suffering from the consequences of the plans, designs and wild dreams of others for ages?

A British colleague, who has been following the Cyprus problem right from the start in 1963, once said the Cyprus talks were very much like a plane that smoothly takes off every 10 years before making a crash landing each time. 

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades blamed this week's breakdown of United Nations-backed negotiations at the Swiss resort of Mont Pelerin on a lack of "flexibility" by the Turkish-Cypriot delegation but insisted he's ready to pick up where talks left off.

We look set to go through a bumpy and potentially perilous period as far as our ties with Turkey are concerned. Let us take a look at the facts. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is very powerful, but is facing serious dangers. The Cyprus issue risks coming to a dead end - perhaps this is the last chance to solve it.