Turkey snubs full Cyprus troop pullout

Ankara, 13 January 2017 (MIA) - Turkey's president says a full withdrawal of its forces from divided Cyprus is "out of the question" unless Greece also agrees to pull out troops, the BBC reports.
Hopes of reunification have been raised after talks between Turkish and Greek Cypriots in Geneva this week.
But a number of stumbling blocks remain, including whether any Turkish troops would stay in northern Cyprus after reunification.
The island's communities have been split since 1974.
Key obstacles to a deal include the return of property to tens of thousands of Cypriots who fled their homes in 1974, as well as the presence of troops.
Turkey still has 30,000 troops stationed in the island's north, whose presence Greece opposes.
On Friday, Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades reiterated a call for all Turkish troops to leave. Greece is thought to have about 1,000 troops stationed on the island.
Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said one side demanding that the other remove its troops would rule out a mutually acceptable solution.
On Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had said discussions were "at a critical juncture" and that technical experts would now hold talks.
The meetings are likely to begin on 18 January, with a focus on thorny security issues, reports say.
The end goal is for the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities to share power in a two-state federation.
Any deal would have to win the support of both Cypriot communities in separate referendums.
While diplomats have made positive noises on the progress being made, Erdogan said that Greece and the Cypriot government "still have different expectations" from Turkey.
Another obstacle, he added, was on a possible rotating presidency on Cyprus. Instead of seeing four Greek Cypriot presidencies for every one by Turkish Cypriots, Erdogan said he wanted a 2:1 balance in Greece's favour instead.