North’s ‘foreign minister’ criticises British envoy for second time

The north’s ‘foreign minister’ Tahsin Ertugruloglu issued a second condemnation of British High Commissioner Irfan Siddiq on Wednesday, following the latter’s alleged comments at a meeting with British residents in the north last week.

He accused Siddiq of referring to Turkey’s actions in Cyprus in 1974 as a “land grab” at the meeting, kicking off a media storm in the north.

Ertugruloglu said on Sunday that Siddiq “insults and attacks our sovereignty, all our rights and interests, our country, our flag”, and has now made a fresh statement on the issue.

“It is unacceptable for the ambassador of a country, which is the main architect of the emergence of many of the conflicts which are still unresolved and have caused bloodshed, to question the Treaty of Guarantee,” Ertugruloglu said on Wednesday.

“It is clear that Siddiq supports the Greek Cypriot side’s position on Cyprus to preserve the status of the British bases in the Greek Cypriot administration.”

He said the UK should not impose the federal model on the Turkish Cypriot people, especially given that the country allowed Scotland to hold a referendum to secede in 2014, and added that Siddiq is trying to prevent the north from becoming a recognised country.

Referring to Siddiq’s reported comment that “should the possibility of a united Cyprus disappear, the possibility of Turkish Cypriots joining the European Union will also disappear”, Ertugruloglu said that the Turkish Cypriots would be forced to assimilate into Greek Cypriot culture to join the EU unless Turkey were to also join.

He added “it is ironic that the representative of a country which left the EU is making such a loud noise about the matter”.

The Cyprus Mail contacted the British High Commission for a response.

“These accusations are false and do not accurately represent the comments of the high commissioner. UK policy on Cyprus is long-standing, well-documented and remains unchanged, and we continue to fully recognise the 1960 Treaty,” a spokesman said.