MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Tuesday, Tsielepis participated in Moscow talks of AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, that were mostly focused on the Cyprus settlement, as well as Moscow-Nicosia bilateral relations.
"We want to get rid of so called NATO support. The island should be demilitarized. We need to free the island of any military bases in order to build peaceful cooperation with everyone, including Russia," Tsielepis said.
Cyprus was divided in 1974 after Turkey invaded the island in the wake of the Greek Cypriots coup. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus proclaimed independence almost a decade later, currently recognized only by Turkey. Ankara keeps some 35,000 troops in the breakaway northern part of the island.
