Muhammet Ikbal Arslan
26 June 2021•Update: 27 June 2021
LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Saturday blasted remarks by an EU leader seeking to block a two-state solution for the island.
"With these statements, EU officials ignore the will of the Turkish Cypriot people," said TRNC Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertugruloglu, criticizing European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s statement after this week’s EU leaders' summit saying that the bloc will never accept a two-state solution for Cyprus.
Calling her statement another example of the bloc’s unconditional support for the Greek Cypriot administration, Ertugruloglu added:
"This attitude of the EU, which has not fulfilled a single promise it made to the Turkish Cypriot people, is no surprise. This attitude also indicates that the EU is satisfied with the continuation of the current situation on the island."
He added: "Any agreement on the island will be between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides. The EU will certainly understand this phenomenon."
He also told how in 2004, the EU accepted the Greek side as a member representing the whole of the island by ignoring its own membership criteria.
The EU’s aggressive and ugly attitude to hide their shame will never work, said Ertugruloglu, stressing that Turkish Cypriots and Turkey will never stop supporting a solution based on two sovereign, equal states.
The island has been divided since 1964, when ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power.
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was founded in 1983.
The Greek Cypriot administration, backed by Greece, became a member of the EU in 2004, although in a referendum that year most Greek Cypriots rejected a UN settlement plan envisaging a reunited Cyprus joining the EU.
