Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the joint declaration by Egypt, Greece, Greek Cypriot Administration, France and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
13 May, 2020Prime Minister Tatar sent a letter to WHO Director-General
13 May, 2020Yesterday, Deputy Prime Ministry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a written statement, evaluated the Joint Declaration which has been adopted by the Greek Cypriot administration of Southern Cyprus, Greece, Egypt, France and the United Arab Emirates on 11 May 2020. The statement is as follows :
“The Greek Cypriot leadership is gravely mistaken if it assumes that the adoption of a joint declaration, with countries that do not even belong and are completely oblivious to the region and its sensitivities, will lead us to forego our rights and interests.
The Foreign Ministers of the Greek Cypriot administration of Southern Cyprus, Greece, Egypt, France and the United Arab Emirates, on 11th May 2020, adopted an entirely politically-driven Joint Declaration regarding the Eastern Mediterranean, divorced from realities and aimed at generating misperceptions.
Rather than enabling the natural wealth in the Eastern Mediterranean to cater for regional stability through means of cooperation and reciprocal economic interdependence between the two sides in Cyprus and other actors in the region, it is unfortunate that the Greek Cypriot administration, alongside countries which do not even have a say in the region, insists on efforts towards usurping the rights of the Turkish Cypriot people and Turkey and compromising their interests in the region by generating misperceptions and creating fait accompli against the TRNC and Turkey. It should be known that such recurring attempts, which are devoid of justice and international legal merit, will not prevent the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus from continuing, in the face of these threats, to protect the rights and interests of the Turkish Cypriot people in the Eastern Mediterranean in cooperation with Turkey.
If the Greek Cypriot administration wishes to have security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, it must first abandon its maximalist, hegemonic and unilateral policies and recognise the equal rights and interests of the Turkish Cypriot People on the island and in the region, and must act accordingly. The main counterpart of the Greek Cypriot administration in the Eastern Mediterranean is the Turkish Cypriot side, with whom it should engage in dialogue and diplomacy. It is insincere on the part of the Greek Cypriot side to talk about the wish to ensure stability and security in the Eastern Mediterranean while failing to comprehend and respect this reality.
The Turkish Cypriot side has made multiple calls and proposals for cooperation between the respective sides of the two peoples, which have equal co-ownership rights on the island and in the Eastern Mediterranean. Our cooperation proposal dated 13 July 2019 remains valid. Hence, the only path forward is for the Greek Cypriot side to abandon its unilateral steps, which serve neither the security nor stability of the island, and to cooperate as regards the two people’s equal rights and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean, with the Turkish Cypriot side, its sole counterpart on the island and main counterpart in the region.
The Greek Cypriot side, which has made a habit of acting as the sole authority and owner of the island, continually exposes its true intention and policy regarding the future of the Island by taking such initiatives. Such behaviour is further fuelling the crisis of confidence between the Turkish Cypriot People and the Greek Cypriot People while having an adverse effect on regional stability. The Greek Cypriot leadership is gravely mistaken if it believes that adopting a joint declaration with regional or non-regional actors will lead us to forego our rights and interests.”