Cyprus president: Turkish Cypriot proposals aim at partition

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS
Associated Press

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The Greek Cypriot president of Cyprus has dismissed proposals put forward by the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots as an “unacceptable” bid to permanently partition the ethnically divided nation. President Nicos Anastasiades said Wednesday that he considered the ideas to be “another attempt to entrench the unacceptable narrative for a settlement based on two independent states.” Among Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar’s five proposals for a peace accord and the future of Cyprus is a plan for the joint exploration of potential offshore natural gas deposits. Anastasiades’ rejection of the proposals on the anniversary of the island’s 1974 division illustrated how far apart the two sides remain in U.N.-facilitated peace talks.