UPDATE - Federal solution 'not possible' for Cyprus, says Turkish President Erdogan

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT

By Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) — Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday reiterated support for a two-state solution on Cyprus, saying that ignoring the realities on the Eastern Mediterranean island would lead "nowhere."

"We believe a federal solution is not possible in Cyprus," Erdogan told at a commemoration ceremony soon after arriving on an official visit to Lefkosa, the capital of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

Erdogan, whose visit marks the 50th anniversary of Türkiye's Cyprus Peace Operation, expressed Ankara's readiness to negotiate, discuss, and ultimately achieve a lasting peace and solution on the Island. He said the Greek Cypriot side had a "spoiled mentality," seeing itself as the sole ruler of the island.

"We are faced with such a tragedy in which the Greek Cypriot leader attends commemoration ceremonies for EOKA terrorists, attacks are carried out against our Turkish Cypriot brothers and sisters when they cross to the south, they are arrested, and mosques in the south are set on fire," added the Turkish president.

EOKA was an extremist Greek Cypriot nationalist terrorist group that targeted not only British soldiers and civil servants but also Turkish and Greek Cypriots who opposed its extreme ideology and its goal of union with Greece.

Erdogan further stated that the Greek Cypriot side "clearly" showed it had "no intention" of sharing political power or natural resources with the island's Turkish Cypriots.

While praising Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar's "valuable" vision for a two-state solution, articulated in April 2023 during a meeting in Geneva, Erdogan urged the TRNC to sit at the negotiation table with the Greek Cypriot side as equals in all respects.

To reach a solution to the Cyprus issue, he repeated his call for recognition of Turkish Cypriots' legitimate rights.

"To date, the Turkish Cypriots and Türkiye have been the sincere parties striving for a solution, making sacrifices, taking risks, and showing their commitment," the Turkish leader added.

Stating that Northern Cyprus is the "apple of Türkiye's eye," Erdogan said Ankara and Lefkosa have been united "with one heart, one wrist" for 50 years.

*He said the decade before the Cyprus Peace Operation was marked by "blood, tears, and persecution for the Turkish Cypriots," coming to an end on July 20, 1974, when Türkiye acted upon its rights and responsibilities arising from international agreements as motherland and guarantor country.

Erdogan said he hopes to see the day when leaders of guarantor countries can visit both sides of the island together, adding that he personally conveyed this desire to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during a recent NATO summit in Washington.

Strengthening dialogue between Türkiye and Greece will help resolve the Cyprus issue, he said.

Emphasizing that the Immovable Property Commission, recognized internationally as an effective domestic legal remedy, is the sole body to resolve property issues on the island, Erdogan said: "Those who resort to other methods, thinking they can pressure Turkish Cypriots to achieve their goals, are greatly mistaken.

"We will not allow unilateral actions, nor will the Turkish Cypriot people succumb to threats. It is impossible to ignore the ancient and fundamental component of the island, the Turkish Cypriots."

He added that Türkiye continues its determined efforts to secure international recognition of the TRNC and implementation of a two-state solution.

Calling Turkish Cypriot President Tatar's attendance in an unofficial summit of the Turkic Council in Shusha, Azerbaijan the "latest example of this," Erdogan thanked Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for "his steadfastness during this process."​​​​​​​

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. July 20, the anniversary of the operation, is celebrated yearly in the TRNC as Peace and Freedom Day.

The Greek Cypriot administration was admitted to the EU in 2004, the same year 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.