Turkish Cypriot authorities condemn EU’s rejection of two-state solution

Authorities in the north on Saturday condemned the EU’s “unjust and unilateral attitude” regarding the Cyprus problem and called it to adopt a “neutral position” after the EU Commission said it would never accept a two-state solution.

Turkish Cypriot ‘foreign minister’ Tahsin Ertugruloglu, cited by the Cyprus News Agency, condemned “the unfortunate and far from reality EU policy which has not kept any promises it made to the Turkish Cypriots to date”.

His statements came after the president of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen, said after the EU summit in Brussels on Friday, that the EU would “never accept” a two-state solution to the Cyprus problem. This stance is maintained by the UN. President Nicos Anastasiades expressed his satisfaction after his meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Brussels on Friday also told him that a two-state solution was a “non-starter”.

Guterres clarified that the terms of his mandate were clear and provided for a solution based on a bicommunal, bizonal federation (BBF), with political equality in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions.

But Ertugruloglu said Turkish Cypriots, together with Turkey, will keep fighting to preserve their legal rights.

He added that the EU, failed to refer to the Turkish Cypriot people, who are directly concerned with the Cyprus problem, and take into account their will.

By backing the UN resolutions “which have lost their force”, the EU “prevents the realisation of a realistic and lasting cooperation between the two sides on the island”.

Referring to the opening of the fenced-off area of Varosha, he said that their decisions were “within the frameworks of international law and respect of property rights”.