Tatar threatens resignation if Turkey changes course

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar has said he would step down should Ankara revise its policy on the Cyprus problem after the May elections.

Tatar stated that possibility of Ankara changing its view – currently pushing for a two-state solution – is unlikely, reasoning that the Cyprus problem is a matter of national interest for Turkey which spans the political spectrum.

On his refusal to revise his two-state policy, Tatar stated “that’s how I was born and that’s how I’ll die, I can’t follow a zig-zag line.”

He said that if that the change happened then he would go back to Kanal T, the TV station his family owns.

“I’ll sit there, living proudly – I’m not one to change and neither does it suit me,” he said.

Tatar referred back to the Anan plan referendums in 2004, reasoning that had both sides voted yes then Cyprus and then Turkey would have joined the EU.

In that scenario, he said, “it would be an entirely different situation”.