THE TIME HAS COME FOR CYPRUS

Özet

Since 1974 Turkey has contended that the Cyprus question should be settled through negotiations between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots. However, develop- ments have shown that bargaining carried out on this platform did not yield the ex- pected results. The time has come for direct bilateral negotiations between Turkey and Greece since the Cyprus question is basically a Greco-Turkish problem. This is the only platform which can pave the way for a solution on the island. In this process, both parties should pursue a bipartisanship model that will ease the bargaining pro- cess by making it easier for the parties to give concessions and retreat to an extent from their starting positions. Both Turkey and greece should adapt their political decision-making processes to facilitate the adoption of a solution on the Cyprus issue.