“Our objective is a federal settlement” states President Akıncı
Date Added: 19 September 2016, 12:22

According to a statement by President Akıncı, the objective of the Cyprus negotiations is to create a federal settlement. Neither a confederation nor a unitary state has been considered in the negotiations, President Mustafa Akıncı added.

President Akıncı issued the statement in response to questions from a TAK reporter before the tripartite meeting in New York on 25 September with the Greek Cypriot Leader Nikos Anastasiades and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

President Akıncı said that there would be no hierarchical relationship between the Turkish Cypriot Constituent State and the Greek Cypriot Constituent State after a possible settlement. The existing political structure on both sides of the island will be transformed according to the new conditions, President Akıncı affirmed.

Akıncı also noted that the population will not be fixed, and the numbers currently being discussed are the number of Turkish and Greek Cypriot citizens, 220,000 and 800,000 respectively.

Under the proposed arrangement, citizens who choose to stay in the TRNC with work and residence permits will be able to use those permits in a federal Cyprus, President Akıncı noted.