Burcu: “Political equality is one of the basic principles of the settlement”
6 February, 2017Dr. Burhan Nalbantoğlu was remembered on the 37th anniversary of his death
7 February, 2017The former President Derviş Eroğlu stated that the Turkish Cypriot people cannot give concessions on the issue of guarantees, a rotational presidency and derogations.
Speaking this weekend on the subject of ongoing negotiations, Eroğlu pointed out that if there are no permanent derogations and if any future settlement is not the EU’s primary Law, the majority of the Turkish Cypriot people would likely spend their lives in the European courts because of the property issue.
While some parties have raised the option of postponing the talks until after the presidential elections in South Cyprus in 2018, if no results emerge from the negotiations in March, Eroğlu made clear that such an open-ended process serves only to harm the Turkish Cypriot people.
“It’s time to set a time limit for the negotiations”, Eroğlu added.
The former President Eroğlu reiterated that while the Greek Cypriot side had no concerns regarding the prolongation of the talks, the Turkish Cypriot side have not gained anything from the talks thus far.
While everyone on the Turkish Cypriot side is in favour of achieving a sustainable and viable solution, any form of settlement which uproots and relocates many people would not be accepted by the Turkish Cypriots.
Eroğlu also emphasized that the UN Security Council and the EU, which approved the one-sided EU membership of the South Cyprus, were in part responsible for the lack of a solution in Cyprus. Eroğlu underlined that Republic of Cyprus needs to be dismissed and the two constituent states need to form a partnership state.