President George Vassiliou of Cyprus suggested here Friday that reduced superpower tensions could help end the Turkish-Greek standoff that has kept his island divided since 1974.
Vassiliou said Turkey`s role as the bulwark of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization`s vital southern flank has diminished with the easing of the Cold War.
”The situation is changing because the U.S. government`s relations with the Soviet Union has taken a different shape, and now there are different prospects,” Vassiliou said in a meeting with Chicago Tribune editors.
The latest round of United Nations-sponsored talks between Vassiliou and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash collapsed in March following Denktash`s demand for a constitutional guarantee of the Turkish Cypriot minority`s right to self-determination.
A UN peacekeeping force separates the two ethnic populations.
Repeated negotiation efforts have failed since Turkey invaded in 1974 following an Athens-supported coup there.
Vassiliou suggested that pressure to resolve the Cyprus dispute could emerge if Turkish proponents of entry into the European Economic Community win a struggle with those who prefer a pan-Turkic renaissance.
”We want Turkey to be Europeanized,” he said, but Europe will rebuff Turkey until the Cyprus question is settled. ”I am hopeful that with the right policy, the U.S. government can convince the Turkish government to move towards Europe.”
