Recently released UN confidential minutes on the Cyprus Conference in Crans Montana on July 6, 2017 are revealing enough – especially those focusing on the day’s crucial meeting between Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades.
The UN had tried to convince the Greek Cypriot side that there was a Turkish move on the issue of guarantees and unilateral right to intervene in the divided island even though this was not the case.
This is what Philenews reports citing the crucial documents and adding that such a move never happened even though Guterres and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had met twice before the one between the UN chief and Anastasiades.
In fact, the Turkish official had given Ankara’s position in writing pointing out that his country would accept renaming the guarantee Treaty into an implementation Treaty.
And that the parties to the new Treaty would be the same signatories to the Treaty of guarantees and would also have the right to unilateral intervention.
However, according to the confidential minutes of the United Nations, the Secretary-General indicated – to President Anastasiades – that the guarantee treaty was flawed and now Turkey, finally, wanted to abandon it.
He also said that it would be good for 37% of the island to unite with the rest.
According to the minutes, Anastasiades replied that “Turkey wants to have a military base for its troops to be stationed in Cyprus forever.”
The minutes also reveal the Cyprus President demanded the complete withdrawal of the troops from day one of reunification. He had said he would not accept such an agreement and would not present it to Greek Cypriots.
Cyprus is divided since a 1974 invasion by Turkey which still maintains troops in the breakaway north in full violation of UN resolutions.
