Europe

Official: Must stick to rules for Cyprus talks to continue

Associated Press
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Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, left, speaks with Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, right, next to Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide, 2nd right, and Elizabeth Spehar, Deputy to the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Cyprus, 2nd left, during the Cyprus Talks, in Mont Pelerin, Switzerland Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP) (The Associated Press)

People stand on the Venetian wall behind a fence at the Turkish Cypriot controlled area and looks to the Greek Cypriot part in the divided capital Nicosia, on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016. The rival leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus are locked in crucial talks for a second time in two weeks in Mont Pelerin, Switzerland that will determine whether a peace deal is within reach. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) (The Associated Press)

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades speaks during a nationally televised news conference at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016. Anastasiades says he’s ready to pick up talks with Turkish Cypriots leader aimed at reunifying the ethnically divided island after they hit an impasse earlier this week. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, Pool) (The Associated Press)

Cyprus' government spokesman says talks at a Swiss resort to reunify the ethnically split island broke down because the Turkish Cypriot side didn't stick to agreed-upon rules on how negotiations would proceed.

Nicos Christodoulides told state-run radio Wednesday that Turkish Cypriot negotiators evaded coming to agreement on how much territory each side would administratively control in an aimed-for federation.

He said Turkish Cypriot negotiators instead aimed to get the issue bundled into a final summit bringing together Greece, Turkey and Britain that's intended to sort out security arrangements after reunification.

Christodoulides said President Nicos Anastadiades would hold a televised address later Wednesday to explain the situation.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that a "precious opportunity" was lost, but reaffirmed Turkey's commitment to a deal.