Statement by the TRNC Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the statement of the Spokesperson of the US Department of the State

The spokesperson of the US Department of the State repeated the Greek Cypriot position on the Cyprus issue in the statement delivered on 2 November 2022. Above all, selling arms to the Greek Cypriot side on one hand and claiming that the United States is supporting “a settlement on the island” is hardly convincing. The representatives of the United States should be well aware of the fact that selling arms to one side makes it difficult to reach an agreement between the two sides on the island. The island of Cyprus is home to the Turkish Cypriot people who perceive themselves as part of the Turkish nation and the Greek Cypriot people who accept themselves as part of Hellenism. It is rather meaningful that the representatives of the United States refer to the existence of a “Cypriot” nation and disregard the basic realities on the island.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has for a long time been constantly putting on record that a legal framework between our country and the United Nations is required for the continuation of the presence and activities of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in the TRNC. Based on this understanding, the TRNC has taken a proactive step and presented the UN authorities with a draft agreement which will be of mutual interest for both sides.

We expect the United States to be supportive of the step taken by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus which will pave the way for the continuation of the activities of the United Nations Peacekeeping forces in our country.

Continued insistence of the United States on the “federation” model which has been negotiated for fifty years according to the circumstances of the day and yielded no results until today due to the intransigence of the Greek Cypriot side, is not in line with the changing conditions of the day. It has been confirmed that the Greek Cypriot side rejected the negotiations aiming towards a federation. Moreover, most importantly there exist two Peoples and two States on the island today. Only an effort that takes this fact into account can create the desired atmosphere of stability and welfare on the island and the region.