The TRNC Presidency stated that the Turkish Cypriot side is at least as sovereign as the Greek Cypriot side and is ready to implement confidence-building measures based on the legitimate vested rights and consent of the two sides.

In a written statement issued by the Presidency, criticizing the Greek Cypriot side’s recent attempts to bring to the fore a number of so-called confidence building measures despite knowing that these are impossible to accept or implement, it was stressed that these attempts were aimed at concealing their own intransigence and to convince Turkish Cypriots to make concessions from their sovereignty through false economic promises.

“The Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades has recently proposed such confidence-building measures in an attempt to conceal the collapse of the East Med pipeline project which will hurt him politically,” the statement read.

Furthermore, it was pointed out that steps to create trust between the two sides can only serve their purpose if they are taken on the basis of realistic proposals that will provide equal benefits to both sides.