NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The Turkish Cypriot leader in the breakaway north of the ethnically divided island of Cyprus is toeing Ankara's line and doesn't really speak for the local community there, an activist group said.
The accusations came after Sener Elcil of the newly formed Patriotic Turkish Cypriot Movement, a network of nongovernmental organizations and leftist parties, met with the island’s Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.
Cyprus was divided when Turkey invaded the northern part of the island in 1974, following a failed, Athens junta-backed coup by supporters of union with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence and maintains more than 35,000 troops in the island’s northern third.
Although Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, only the Greek Cypriot south, where the internationally recognized government is seated, enjoys full membership benefits.
Elcin's movement says the island's Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar follows Turkey's directives for partitioning Cyprus into two states.
Turkish Cypriots urgently need an internationally negotiated deal to safeguard their distinct identity as inhabitants of the island because they’re being overwhelmed by a continuous population transfer from neighboring Turkey, he said.
"Tatar is representing Turkey also because he is behaving like a civil servant of Turkey,” Elcil said.
The meeting with Christodoulides came ahead of a United Nations-led meeting next week in Geneva bringing together the rival Cypriot leaders, the foreign ministers of Greece and Turkey, and Britain's envoy for Europe to scope out chances of resuming formal peace talks.
U.N. Chief Antonio Guterres will host the two-day gathering, which starts Monday, in hopes of breathing new life in the Cyprus peace process that has been in hiatus for nearly eight years, after the last round of negotiations collapsed amid much acrimony.
No major breakthrough is expected in Geneva, but officials say they are looking for a “positive outcome” that would inject some momentum in the peace process.
Tatar has repeatedly said he would go to Geneva to rally for a two-state deal, claiming that the “old model” of resolving one of the world’s most intractable disputes — a federation made up of Greek and Turkish speaking zones — is no longer valid after decades of failure.
Greek Cypriots insist any deal that entrenches the island’s partition is a non-starter as it contravenes long-held U.N. resolutions endorsing a federation.
They also reject a Turkish and Turkish Cypriot demand for a permanent Turkish troop presence and military intervention rights under any accord, as well as a giving the minority Turkish Cypriots veto power over all federal-level government decisions.
Elcil colleague in the movement, Izzet Izcan, said the majority of Turkish Cypriots believe a federation is the “only solution” for Cyprus.
Tatar is up for reelection in the local vote in the northern part of Cyprus in October and Elcil said he is concerned it will be an easy win, with the influx of new residents of the north from Turkey — voters who will likely cast their ballots according to Ankara’s wishes.
FILE - U.N. Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Colin Stewart, center, Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar talk as they attend the UN's end of year reception at Ledras Palace inside the U.N buffer zone in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
CAIRO (AP) — Hamas said Saturday it would only release an American-Israeli and the bodies of four other hostages if Israel implements the existing ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, calling it an “exceptional deal” aimed at getting the truce back on track.
A senior Hamas official said long-delayed talks over the ceasefire's second phase would need to begin the day of the release and last no longer than 50 days. Israel would also need to stop barring the entry of humanitarian aid and withdraw from a strategic corridor along Gaza's border with Egypt.
Hamas would also demand the release of more Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks.
Edan Alexander, 21, who grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, was abducted from his military base during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war, and is the last living American citizen held in Gaza.
There was no immediate comment from Israel, where government offices were closed for the weekly Sabbath. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Friday accused Hamas of “manipulation and psychological warfare” when the offer was initially made, before Hamas spelled out the conditions.
The United States said it presented on Wednesday a proposal to extend the ceasefire a few more weeks as the sides negotiate a permanent truce. It said Hamas was claiming flexibility in public while privately making “entirely impractical” demands.
Negotiations continued in Egypt after senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Cairo on Friday. Egypt and Qatar served as key mediators with Hamas in reaching the ceasefire and have continued to host talks aimed at getting it back on track.
There was no immediate comment from the mediators.
Under the ceasefire agreement reached in January, Israel and Hamas were to begin negotiations over a second phase — in which Hamas would release all the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting truce — in early February, but so far only preparatory talks have been held.
After the first phase ended at the beginning of this month, Israel said it had agreed to a new U.S. proposal in which Hamas would release half the remaining hostages in return for a vague commitment to negotiate a lasting ceasefire. Hamas rejected that offer, accusing Israel of backtracking on the signed agreement and trying to sabotage the truce.
Israel has barred the delivery of food, fuel and other supplies to Gaza's roughly 2 million Palestinians, and cut electricity to the territory, to pressure Hamas to accept the new proposal.
The first phase of the truce, which took hold on Jan. 19, saw the release of 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces pulled back to a buffer zone along Gaza's border and allowed a surge of humanitarian aid.
An Israeli official said last month that Israel will not withdraw from the so-called Philadelphi corridor, along the Gaza-Egypt border, as called for in the ceasefire agreement. They have cited the need to combat weapons smuggling.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage. The group is still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were freed in ceasefire agreements.
Israel's military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced most of the population and left nearly everyone dependent on international aid to survive.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Displaced Palestinians burn waste in central Gaza Strip on Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip on Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip on Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip on Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
