Turkish Foreign Minister Says No Need To Start Cyprus Talks That Fail To Produce Results

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th September, 2019) There is no need in negotiations regarding the settlement of the Cyprus issue if they cannot produce any results, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters on Tuesday.

The foreign minister has just visited the the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TNRC), where he confirmed his government's unchanging support of Turkish Cypriots.

"We need to conduct negotiations that produce results, we cannot tolerate their failure any longer. We need to conduct them within a specific framework, it is meaningless to start them to have empty talks," Cavusoglu said.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey sent its forces to the island in order to allegedly protect the island's Turkish population. In 1983, the TNRC declared its independence, without being recognized by anyone except of Turkey. Since then, the reunification process has been ongoing, but not without occasional lapses, the last one being the failed 2017 Crans-Montana negotiations, after which the negotiations stopped in their tracks.