Discussing the presence of the Turkish Armed Forces on the island ahead of the Conference on Cyprus in Switzerland on 28 June, Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu said, “The Turkish Armed Forces will continue to exist in Cyprus.”

Foreign Minister Ertuğruloğlu was replying to questions from an AA reporter regarding the Cyprus negotiation process and the Conference on Cyprus that will reconvene on 28 June in Crans-Montana.

Ertuğruloğlu stressed that Turkish and Greek Cypriots were old partners during the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus. However, he emphasized that the main problem now is the attitude of the Greek Cypriot side which considers Turkish Cypriots a minority instead of a partner. Ertuğruloğlu also said that it is the Turkish Cypriot side who desires and requests an agreement in Cyprus, and that if an agreement is not reached, this should be officially declared by the UN. “We are expecting Crans-Montana to be the last stop” said Ertuğruloğlu.

Emphasizing that Turkey should have a unilateral right to intervention in case the Greek Cypriot side tries to take over the control of the whole island again, as they did in 1963, he said that the presence of the Turkish Armed Forces will be maintained on the island and that Turkey will have the right to unilaterally intervene if required.