According to Ankara Anatolia news agency (10.11.14), the Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu has sent a letter to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, urging him to convince the Greek Cypriot leader, Nicos Anastasiades, to resume negotiations.
According to a statement issued by his “office” on Monday, Eroglu called on the Greek Cypriot side to return to the negotiating table unconditionally.
The letter comes after the Greek Cypriot side suspended talks in October in retaliation for Turkey’s warship mission to monitor an oil-and-gas exploration activity in the Cyprus coast.
Eroglu termed the tension in the region as artificial, which served the Greek-Cypriot administration’s political aims.
“The Turkish navy vessels are in international waters,” Eroglu claimed in the letter, explaining: “They are in defence of the legitimate rights and interests of the Turkish Cypriot side as one of the two equal stakeholders/partners in the island. In any event, the navigational telex (NAVTEX) issued in this respect does not overlap with the Greek Cypriot area of activity and the ships of the Turkish navy are in international waters. If there is a provocation, however, this was created by the unilateral attempts and activities of the Greek Cypriot side with regard to the hydrocarbon reserves around the island, to the exclusion of the Turkish Cypriot side.”
