Disy leader pessimistic on future of talks

There is not much to be optimistic about over the Cyprus issue at present, Disy leader Annita Demetriou said on Wednesday, a day after a snap meeting with Greek Premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Demetriou travelled to Athens with Disy MP Harris Georgiades a day earlier for talks with Mitsotakis in light of the 50-year anniversary of the Turkish invasion.

She said she did not have any expectations for developments on the Cyprus problem at least up until September.

“I cannot say I am optimistic because I have nothing to this end,” Demetriou told the state broadcaster.

She said Mitsotakis had briefed her on his contacts in Washington DC, where she stressed that without Greece and a common stance “we cannot move forward”.

It is important to recognise that solving the Cyprus problem cannot be taken as a singular issue but within the contexts of the relations between Turkey and Greece; Turkey and the EU, the situation in Gaza, the energy crisis and the war in the heart of Europe, Demetriou added.

“There needs to be better information. People need to know what it is that we are discussing.”

During her trip to Greece, she also met with Defence Minister Nikos Dendias.

Asked in Cyprus whether she could comment on the renewal of UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin’s mandate, Demetriou specified she had no information but believed it would be renewed.

“We will wait and see. Otherwise it will be catastrophic.”

Speaking to the state broadcaster, Georgiades said the messages of the talks were not particularly hopeful on whether Turkey’s policy could change.

Nonetheless, the five meetings Mitsotakis had with Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan in the past year carry particular significance.

There has been a decrease in tension and aggressive moves from Turkey’s army, and a change of Turkish policy of migration flows to Greece and Cyprus, he said.