Cavusoglu attacks Greece, reiterates Turkish support of two-state solution on Cyprus
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has reiterated Turkey’s support for a two-state solution to the division of Cyprus, while accusing Greece of trying to rally international support against his country.
“Two states existing side by side can cooperate between them in every possible way,” Cavusoglu said after talks with Turkish Cypriot officials in the Turkish-occupied north Monday.
“If the Greek Cypriot side is sincere about wanting to treat Turkish Cypriots as equals, then it will recognize their political sovereignty and we will cooperate,” he said.
Turkey’s calls for a two-state solution on the Mediterranean island are in violation of United Nations resolutions and have been rejected by Cyprus, Greece, the European Union and the United States.
In the same comments, Cavusoglu accused Greek officials of “griping” to the international community over bilateral disputes and of unfairly accusing his country of preparing to attack Greece.
“We did not expect Greek Prime Minister [Kyriakos Mitsotakis] to speak well of us to the EU or the [US] Congress,” the Turkish minister said, adding that regional developments have been the focus on many talks that did not include Turkey.”
“Turkey was not at all affected by these [talks],” he said.