5 missing martyrs from Terazi village will be buried on Thursday
23 August, 2016President Mustafa Akıncı met with political party leaders and representatives ahead of the second round of negotiations
23 August, 2016Presidential Spokesman Barış Burcu responded to reports in the Greek Cypriot press regarding Egyptian Petroleum and Natural Resource Minister Tarek El Molla’s upcoming visit to the island to sign a bilateral agreement for the sale of gas to Egypt.
The Presidential Spokesman emphasized that any attempt or initiative undertaken by the Greek Cypriot side to unilaterally extract, exploit and transport these resources will be an unacceptable violation of the Turkish Cypriot people’s partnership rights.
Burcu also reiterated that any energy resources discovered along or off the coast of Cyprus belong jointly to Turkish and Greek Cypriots.
The Presidential Spokesman warned that the Greek Cypriot administration should refrain from undertaking such harmful actions at a critical time in the negotiation process.
“It must not be forgotten that talks have previously been abandoned because of such actions” he stated.
He emphasised that all efforts should go towards reaching a settlement in Cyprus as soon as possible, especially considering that relations between Turkey and Israel had improved and Israeli gas could be combined with Cypriot gas and transported to Europe via Turkey.
“This plan will certainly benefit all sides and will also contribute to a solution for Cyprus” Burcu said in his statement.