Despite UN efforts, quick Cyprus peace talks restart bleak

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS
Associated Press

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The foreign minister of ethnically divided Cyprus has offered a bleak outlook for resuming stalled peace talks any time soon. Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides says his government hopes the chances of restarting the talks don’t  “get any worse” over the next few months. Greece and Cyprus have accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of engaging in hostile rhetoric and behavior ahead of Turkey’s presidential election in April. A senior United Nations official was in Cyprus on Thursday to gauge the prospects for resolving one of Europe’s most intractable conflicts. Cyprus divided into ethnically Greek and ethnically Turkish sides in 1974, when Turkey invaded following a coup by supporters of union with Greece.