Turkey reaffirms support for Turkish Cypriot rights over energy resources
Turkey will continue to protect the rights and interests of Turkish Cypriots to the region’s energy resources, Foreign Minister Mevult Cavusoglu said Sunday.
“We have protected and continue to protect the rights and interests of the Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus and its surroundings over energy resources,” Cavusoglu said.
Turkey, which doesn’t recognize Cyprus as a sovereign state, claims much of the ethnically-split island’s offshore economic zone as its own.
Cavusoglu reiterated Turkey’s support for a two-state solution to the division of the Mediterranean island, which has remained split since the 1974 invasion, adding that a settlement along the lines of a bizonal, bicommunal federation is no longer appropriate.
Turkish 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.
Cavusoglu also defended the opening of Varosha, the fenced-off southern quarter of the city of Famagusta in Turkish-occupied Cyprus – also a violation of UN resolutions.
The Greek-Cypriot residents of Varosha fled during the Turkish invasion, leaving it as a no-man’s land for nearly 50 years. Ankara has since used it as a bargaining chip in talks aimed at resolving the island’s division.
