Ertuğruloğlu: “Talking about a Confederation should not be perceived as abandoning the claim of an equal sovereign state.”

Stating that if a confederation is established by sovereign equal states, Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu said that the basis of the work is two separate sovereign equal states, and there is no inconsistency.

Speaking at the General Assembly of the Parliament, Ertuğruloğlu said, “Talking about a Confederation should not be perceived as abandoning the claim of an equal sovereign state.”  Noting that an expression of a federal solution should not be interpreted only as a federation, Ertuğruloğlu said that there is both a federation and a confederation under a federal title.

Stating that if there will be a new partnership between the two sides, it can only be a confederation, Ertuğruloğlu emphasised the need to act on the basis of two sovereign equal states, and indicated the EU as an example to the confederation. Ertuğruloğlu stated that we should not be condemned to a single option.

Explaining that it is not possible for the Greek Cypriots to ask for a solution as long as the Turkish Cypriots are treated as a society within the so-called Republic of Cyprus,  Ertuğruloğlu stated that in the current process, the Greek Cypriot side makes a pretence of wishing for a solution and keeps the Turkish Cypriots at the table which causes time to be lost.

In this context, Ertuğruloğlu stated that the United Nations caused the greatest damage to the Turkish Cypriots and when they expressed this, they were declared as an anti-solution side, yet they never accepted this statement. Ertuğruloğlu added that it was the approach of the UN and the Greek Cypriot side that moved them away from a solution.