Erdogan i Erhurman, Photo: Reuters
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey believes the most realistic way to overcome the political impasse over Cyprus is to establish two states on the ethnically divided island, Reuters reported.
Erdogan spoke alongside Tufan Erhurman, the newly elected leader of the Turkish Cypriots, who pledged to explore the possibilities of a federal solution, long supported by the United Nations, to end the island’s nearly 50-year-old division.
Turkey, the only country that recognizes the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and former Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar have advocated a two-state policy, which Greek Cypriots have rejected.
“The Greek Cypriot side sees the solution to the Cyprus issue as reducing Turkish Cypriots to minority status in a partner state that is now dysfunctional,” Erdogan said, adding that he still believes there is a formula by which the two sides could live in peace on the island.
Erhurman, who traditionally makes his first visit abroad to Turkey, said all sides must “learn lessons” from previous methods that did not yield results or ended in failure.
“Turkish Cypriots are one of the two constitutive partners of the island and that status of my people is not subject to debate, negotiation or bargaining. Turkish Cypriots, within that status, have sovereign rights over the entire island of Cyprus,” he said, also referring to energy and hydrocarbon resources.
“No one should expect us to follow a path that has been tried countless times in the past and has led nowhere,” Erhurman said, adding that there is no point in holding negotiations if the Greek Cypriot side is not prepared to sincerely seek a solution.
Cyprus was divided in 1974 after a Turkish invasion triggered by a short-lived Greek-backed coup, which followed sporadic fighting following the collapse of the power-sharing administration in 1963. Peace talks have been stalled since 2017.
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