A ‘realistic and sustainable agreement based on two states’, where the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot ‘peoples’, as expressed, will live side by side with cooperative relations, is sought by the Turkish Cypriot side, as stated by Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar to a delegation of British Members of Parliament he met in the occupied territories.
As reported on the ‘Bayrak’ website, the British MPs are in the occupied territories ‘as part of the campaign ‘Freedom and Justice for Northern Cyprus’.’
The delegation consists of Heather Wheeler, Baroness Nosheena Mobarik, Giles Watling, Pauline Lathan, David Reed, Çetin Ramadan, and Rikki Williams.
In their meeting, the Turkish Cypriot leader said that he has opened a new page in Cyprus and supported that it is time for a realistic and sustainable agreement based on two states.
Britain, he added, although as a guarantor country is aware of Cyprus and the events in Cyprus, does not treat the Turkish Cypriot ‘people’ equally and has not behaved fairly and equally towards them.
Former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan said in statements to the British Parliament in the 1950s that the Turkish Cypriot ‘people’ had the right to ‘self-determination,’ Mr. Tatar continued, supporting that the Turkish Cypriots have rights stemming from international agreements and claiming that between 1963 and 1974, the Turkish Cypriots were exposed to attacks by EOKA.
He also argued that the Greek Cypriot side does not have the legal and democratic right to represent the Turkish Cypriots and although it is the side that has rejected many agreements for half a century, the promises made to the Turkish Cypriot side for the lifting of the inhumane ’embargo’ have not been kept, and direct trade and flights are still not taking place.
He further stated that the EU is not neutral regarding the Cyprus issue since the Greek Cypriots are members of it and supported that Brussels has not kept the promises made to the Turkish Cypriots.
The ‘TRNC,’ referring to the occupied territories, is a ‘state’ with all its institutions and organizations, and it was noted that they promote the policy of two states with the full support of Turkey.
He also mentioned that after 61 years, it is time for an agreement ‘based on two sovereign equal states,’ depending, as he supported, on the realities in Cyprus, where they will live side by side from which both sides can benefit.
