Minister of Foreign Affairs Özdil Nami stressed that Maraş (Varosha) was part of a comprehensive settlement. “Maraş cannot be a project for those who have a target of reaching a comprehensive solution in spring 2014. It can only be a project of those who don’t have a comprehensive solution target”.

Speaking to Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis, Foreign Minister Nami stated that a process to start on Maraş would overshadow the solution negotiations and even put them at risk and added: “In order not to see this, one shouldn’t know anything about the Cyprus issue or the negotiation process. This could quickly turn into a confidence breaking measure from a confidence building measure. We don’t have the luxury to take such a risk”.

Expressing the belief that there could be a referendum in the first half of 2014, Nami said: “If the negotiations resume from where they were left off with the necessary political will and concentration as well as within the framework of respect to the convergences and agreements reached until today, it is possible to complete the process by spring. After this, we can rapidly go for a referendum”.