Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Wednesday said he wishes the north could change its name.

He made the comments during an interview with Turkish researcher Hilmi Dasdemir which was posted on Youtube, with Dasdemir introducing the idea into the conversation.

“There is also an expectation for this visit and in the opening process of the new palace during the visit of our president [Recep Tayyip Erdogan]. Do you have any expectations or any developments regarding the name of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus being changed to the Turkish Republic of Cyprus and continuing on its path in this way?” Dasdemir asked.

Tatar responded, “I wish it could happen because I also share the same opinion because after all, when the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was declared by our founding president, it was continuing talks for a federal solution at that time, and it was Turkey’s policy, of course”.

He added, “as you know, the Annan Plan, which was in 2004, was 20 years ago, but the republic was declared in 1983, that is, nine years after 1974, and the idea of a federation was adopted at that time, and [the Greek Cypriots] had not entered the European Union”.

He then revisited the subject later in the interview, when explaining how he had come to the conclusion that he would no longer accept the idea of a federal solution to the Cyprus problem.

“I was leader of the UBP, I was the prime minister, my friends there, all of us … said that the book of a federation should be closed. [Greek Cypriots] said no to the Annan Plan, they said no in Crans Montana in 2017, why should we sit and wait for a federation? We spent time on futility and their intentions are clear,” he began.

He said that he had on this basis developed the idea of a two-state solution, and that it this forms the basis of the idea that the word “north” should be removed from the name the north has given itself.

“In a two-state solution, there is no north and no south in this business, because when there would be a federation, there would be a northern state and a southern state. Now, there is no more, since [the Greek Cypriots] continue to introduce themselves as the Republic of Cyprus … but what is its name? Then, why would I imprison myself in the north, I say. It would be the Turkish Republic of Cyprus.”

However, he said, the ‘TRNC’s’ constitution would at present constitute a barrier to such a name change, given the procedures required to change it.