Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sets as a prerequisite to continue talks the recognition of the “sovereign equality” of Turkish-speaking Cypriots.
“If new talks are to take place on Cyprus, they should no longer take place between the two communities, but between the two states,” Erdoğan said at the opening ceremony of a water supply tunnel for the Occupied Territories of northern Cyprus.
Erdoğan set as a prerequisite for the start of new negotiations on the Cyprus issue the recognition of “equal status” and “sovereign equality” for Turkish-speaking Cypriots.
Regarding the recent talks held in Geneva, he said that the talks ended in a stalemate due to the “uncompromising attitude of the Greek side”, which, as he said, is “detached from the events on the island.”
Noting that Turkey has supplied, on an annual basis, 75 million cubic meters of water to the Occupied Territories through a submarine pipeline, Erdoğan said that “Ankara is determined not to leave Turkish Cyprus in need of others.”
The Turkish-speaking Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, also submitted a written proposal for a two-state solution – for the first time since 1977 – and the start of talks on the Cyprus issue.
