Statement by Mr. Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

​We welcome the statement of H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, made on 29 June 2017, and thank him, particularly for clearly stating, once more, the decisive position of Turkey regarding the vital issue of security and guarantees. As is well known, the Turkish Cypriot people regard the concrete and effective guarantee of Turkey as indispensable, both in terms of the viability and sustainability of a possible settlement, as well as for the very sustainability of the Turkish Cypriot people. In this regard, the statements of Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu to the effect that the “zero soldiers, zero guarantees” approach of the Greek Cypriot side and Greece cannot even constitute a starting point and is unacceptable; that their demand that “the guarantee system should be totally abolished and the Turkish army should withdraw” is an illusion which they should abandon; and that the conference in Crans-Montana should be the last attempt, should be taken into full consideration by all relevant parties. It will be recalled that President Akıncı has also stated that this conference is the last and decisive effort. President Akıncı has further underlined that this is not a conference solely on security and guarantees and that it is a “Cyprus Conference” covering all six chapters. On the other hand, the reaction of the Greek Cypriot side and political parties to Mr. Çavuşoğlu’s statement is yet another case of distortion and political posturing and is totally unacceptable. It is in fact well known that the Greek Cypriot side has attempted to distort the purpose of the conference and started a blame-game even before the commencement of the conference. What is happening now is the continuation of this campaign, which is concrete proof that they have come to the Crans-Montana meetings not to reach a final result, but to cause deadlock and render it inconclusive. ​ At a time when the process has reached its final stage as is accepted by all concerned, we condemn this intransigent attitude of the Greek Cypriot side and expect them to adopt a more constructive and result-oriented approach.