Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday told the United Nations general assembly that a solution to the Cyprus problem “cannot be built on the federal model”.

This, he said, is because attempts to find a federal solution to the Cyprus problem have “failed due to the intransigent stance of the Greek Cypriot side”.

“We want to see the Aegean sea and the eastern Mediterranen as a basin of stability and prosperity where the legitimate interests of all parties involved are respected. We are ready for constructive cooperation on all these issues,” he said, adding, “we expect the same from our neighbours.

“On this occasion, I would like to emphasise that projects which exclude Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean will not succeed,” he said, in an apparent reference to the Great Sea Interconnector project.

That project, which if completed, will connect the energy grids of Cyprus, Greece and Israel had been the main subject of a meeting between President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held on the sidelines of the general assembly during Erdogan’s speech.

“Turkey has rights and authority in the west of the island of Cyprus, while Turkish Cypriots have legitimate rights in the areas surrounding the island,” Erdogan told the general assembly, before turning his attention directly to the Cyprus problem.

“There are two separate states and two separate peoples on the island of Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are equal owners of the island and cannot accept being a minority. The international community must end the unjust isolation to which the Turkish Cypriots have been subjected for half a century,” he said.

As such, he said, “I reiterate the call I made at the last three United Nations general assemblies”.

“I invite the international community to recognise the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and to establish diplomatic, political and economic relations.”

He then said Turkey “desires a new beginning and a new vision in relations between Turkey and the European Union in the coming period”, adding that “this vision should not be a day-to-day experience, but one which redefines the horizon and shapes our common future”.

“Of course, it is crucial for the European Union to be as willing and determined as we are to achieve this,” he said.