Cavusoglu: Several solutions possible for Cyprus
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavosuglu says it is time to consider alternative solutions to the Cyprus issue beyond the bi-zonal, by-communal federation.
In an interview to Cyprus’s Politis newspaper, Cavusoglu expresses Turkey’s readiness to discuss other solutions, such as a confederation or two separate states.
Reminded that Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci is opposed to any solution beyond the original bi-zonal, bi-communal federation – in which the two main Cypriot communities, Greek and Turkish, would rule as co-equals and have control over their respective territories – Cavusoglu replied that this is Akinci’s personal opinion.
According to the Turkish foreign minister, the failure to agree on the Annan Plan in 2004 and last year’s talks in Crans Montana, Switzerland, show that federation is a “failed” solution. He claims that Turkey made concessions on security issues at Crans Montana but that the Greek-Cypriot side did not reciprocate in other chapters. Cavusoglu also insists on retaining the role of “guarantor powers” established with Cyprus’s independence from the British empire in 1959.
[ANA-MPA]
