Foreign relations of Cyprus

A solution to the Cyprus problem is possible within months, the Turkish Cypriot chief negotiator in UN-brokered talks that resumed this week on reunifying the island said on Saturday.

Turkey and Greece have expressed hope over soon-to-begin reunification talks in Cyprus, welcoming a decision by both parties to restart negotiations after pro-solution Mustafa Ak?nc?'s election as the new Turkish Cypriot president.

On his maiden trip abroad, newly elected Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Ak?nc? and his Turkish counterpart and host Recep Tayyip Erdo?an left behind the "motherland" and "kinderland" squabble and declared jointly it was now time to concentrate on fast-tracking the Cyprus talks and finding a resolution in 2015.

Negotiations between the Turkish Cypriot government and the Greek Cypriot administration to find a solution to the ongoing dispute over the divided island are to resume, the recently elected Turkish Cypriot president has announced.

The Cyprus issue has long been a taboo in Turkey, and Cyprus is still a matter of national interest that is not to be discussed freely. Apart from legal and psychological pressures, this taboo has been created by the nationalism of the left and right.

The newly elected president of Turkish Cyprus, Mustafa Ak?nc?, will pay his first official customary visit abroad to the Turkish capital city of Ankara this week.

Ak?nc?, who took oath on April 30, will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Özdil Nami during his one-day visit on May 6, the press office of the Turkish Cypriot presidency said over the weekend. 

Foreign Minister Özdil Nami is to represent Turkish Cypriots in negotiations with the Greek Cypriot side, the newly-elected President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Mustafa Ak?nc?, has said in a statement.
      
"An important window of opportunity to resolve the Cyprus issue" is available, according to the May 1 statement of Ak?nc?.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated Turkish Cypriot President-elect Mustafa Ak?nc? for his victory in last week?s elections on April 30.

?[Kerry] wished him well as he assumes his role as leader of the Turkish Cypriot community,? U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said during a daily briefing on April 30. 

On the telephone, the voice of new Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Ak?nc? was rather energetic, determined and to the point: "Enough my friend? Few things were said; it is over. No merit in continuing discussion."

It is difficult to grow up on an island. It is even more difficult if that island is a bi-communal one and you belong to the numerically smaller community. Well, I would not say "minority," as we Turkish Cypriots hate that word. Nowhere else in the world, perhaps, does a father or mother celebrate when, for the first time, their kid "rebels" and serves a "nice kick" to either of them.