Northern Cyprus president calls on UK to review unequal treatment of Turkish Cypriots

By Nuri Aydin

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar has called on the UK to review the country’s unequal treatment of Turkish Cypriots.

Speaking to British channel GB News on Wednesday, Tatar pointed out that one of the injustices is the lack of direct flights from the UK to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Easing the isolation imposed on them would contribute to peace, Tatar emphasized, adding that the unequal treatment of the Turkish Cypriots needs to be reviewed.

Highlighting the benefits of a two-state solution for Cyprus, he said cooperation in many areas such as energy, water, and natural resources will benefit both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots.

He reminded the UK government that, as one of the guarantor powers of Cyprus, it has responsibilities and obligations to both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots.

He called for an end to the injustice.

- Decades-long dispute

The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

The Greek Cypriot administration was admitted to the European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.

Türkiye fully supports a two-state solution on the island of Cyprus based on sovereign equality and equal international status.

*Writing by Muhammed Enes Calli in Istanbul