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Erdogan invites Tassos for coffee in the north
By Staff Reporter


TURKISH Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that Ankara would take a positive approach if the UN launched a new effort to solve the Cyprus problem, and invited President Tassos Papadopoulos to the north for coffee.

Erdogan was speaking in Brussels yesterday before meeting his Greek counterpart Costas Karamanlis on the sidelines of the EU summit, where the resumption of Cyprus talks was said to be on the table.

“I should frankly say that, maybe we can go to northern Cyprus one day, and invite Papadopoulos. We can have a coffee of peace and meal of peace there because our motto is to gain friends, not enemies. But, we should also see the same approach from the other side. We will do anything if we see the same approach,” he said.

“Progress we have made with the countries in the west, north, south and east of Turkey, with which we didn't have contacts in the past, is a clear evidence of this. And, the progress we have made with Greece is more open evidence. South Cyprus gained what it expected on May 1st.”

However, he said in response to questions that the EU had not exerted any effort to end isolation of Turkish Cypriots.

British Minister for Europe Dennis MacShane said yesterday that ending the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community would help moves towards a settlement, something to which the British government remains strongly committed, he said, adding that the Annan plan represented the only realistic basis for a comprehensive settlement.