Turkey ready to discuss two-state Cyprus solution, says Davutoglu
Turkey is ready to negotiate a two-state solution to the Cyprus problem if talks for the reunification of the divided island fail and no agreement is reached with regard to the establishment of a joint commission on the island’s natural gas reserves, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Turkish daily Haberturk on Thursday. Davutoglu’s remarks were then reported in the English-speaking Hurriyet Daily News.
“We have three paths ahead… The UN mission should be accelerated and the sides should talk on a comprehensive solution and the resources should belong to a united Cyprus. A new state. which Turks are a part of, should be able to use them,” Davutoglu was quoted as saying.
“If this does not happen, then two sides should establish a body over the usage of resources that should jointly manage the marketing and extracting,” Davutoglu added. “The fund should be blocked in an account and should be used for peace process and the period after peace.”
According to the Turkish minister, if Cyprus claims the resources as its own, then “it means tacitly that Turkish Cypriots own the resources in the north.”
“If they behave according to this claim, we are ready to negotiate a two-state solution. Then these two states will meet in the EU,” said Davutoglu.
UN Cyprus peace envoy Alexander Downer earlier in the month stated that the international organization would launch a new series of talks regarding reunification after Cyprus had secured a bailout for its troubled economy.
The island republic has been divided since 1974, when the Turkish army invaded Cyprus in response to a Greek-inspired coup in Nicosia aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
