Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “Political equality should be recognised in advance by the Greek Cypriot side for the new negotiation process to start on the island”

Spokesperson of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hami Aksoy gave a written answer to a question on the statement of the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres regarding the Cyprus issue. Spokesperson Aksoy said the following:

“The ‘5+UN meeting’ on the settlement of the Cyprus issue, which the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he will convene following the Presidential elections in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, from our point of view does not mean the launch of a new negotiation process automatically on the Island or the continuation of the Conference on Cyprus from where we left off in Crans Montana in July 2017.

No common ground and vision exists for a settlement between the two sides on the Island.

All past negotiation processes have failed due to the fact that the Greek Cypriot side has not accepted the political equality, which is a requirement for a partnership on the Island and that it could not be defined in a concrete way. The underlying reason is the Greek Cypriots’ unwillingness to share both power and natural wealth with the Turkish Cypriot side.

If a partnership is still desired on the Island despite this fact, political equality, as a principle requirement, should be recognised in advance by the Greek Cypriot side with its entire elements, and a new negotiation process should be built on it.

If this cannot be done, then the two sides should start a new negotiation process over a two state solution on the basis of sovereign equality. The idea of holding an informal ‘5+UN meeting’, which was proposed by Turkey last year, aims at clarifying these issues.

Otherwise, as we have repeatedly explained, Turkey will not enter into a new negotiation process with dubious grounds and methods that have failed in the past.”