Government Spokesman Nicos Christodoulides on Tuesday dismissed a statement by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the Kokkina region should be merged with Turkish-held Morphou in the north in a reunited federal Cyprus.
He said that the map submitted by the Turkish side in Geneva last week does not reflect what Erdogan has commented on.
“All will be revealed at the UN-brokered negotiating table,” Christodoulides told state radio.
Erdogan’s statement stirred up concern by the Greek Cypriot inhabitants of Kokkina area which borders the island’s buffer zone.
Last week, maps on territory were submitted in Geneva – the day before a Cyprus conference with the participation of the divided island’s three guarantors – Greece, Turkey and Britain – took place.
It is understood the Turkish Cypriot proposed map does not meet the expectations of the Greek Cypriot side as it does not envisage the return of Morphou.
It was the first time since the 1974 invasion by Turkey that maps were submitted at the negotiating table.
Turkey, which still maintains some 40,000 troops in the breakaway north, is the only one among the guarantors insisitng on maintaining that anachronistic role in a reunited EU-member Cyprus.
On Wednesday at Mont Pelerin, Switzerland, a working group made up of technocrats from both sides and guarantor parties will start tackling the thorny issue of security so as to pave the way for another high-level Cyprus conference.
Christodoulides said no negotiations on internal aspects of the Cyprus problem are scheduled in Nicosia this week.
Cyprus Weekly