Two-state solution in Cyprus will be beneficial for both sides - Ersin Tatar

TRNC President, Ersin Tatar has said that a two-state solution in Cyprus based on sovereign equality will have benefits for both sides on the island.

“There are no natural tools that can unite us with Greek Cypriots that will allow us to co-exist under the roof of a single state. Cyprus has its own unique realities,” said Tatar in an interview with the Anadolu News Agency.

Evaluating the latest developments on the Cyprus issue to Türkiye’s state-run Anadolu News Agency, President Ersin Tatar said that it was out of the question for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which was preparing to celebrate its 40^th anniversary, to make concessions from its sovereignty.

He said that it was high time the international community recognized the TRNC for what it was; an independent and sovereign Turkish state in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Highlighting the need to find a political settlement on the island, Tatar said that the road to an agreement and cooperation passed through a two-state solution based on sovereign equality.

He argued that the calls made by the international community, namely the United Nations for reunification, were far from the realities on the island.

There are no natural tools that can unite us with Greek Cypriots that will allow us to co-exist under the roof of a single state. Cyprus has its own unique realities. Everyone’s position over the last 60 years is clear. We don’t speak or know Greek, they don’t speak or know Turkish. We don’t recognize them, they don’t recognize us. There are two separate business communities on the island which is why the federal model would not work,” he said.

Tatar said that insisting on a federal framework for a settlement was meaningless as this model has proved to be unsuccessful in bridging the differences between the two sides.

President Ersin Tatar also claimed that the only reason why the newly elected Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides was supporting the idea of a “united Cyprus” was because of the support he had received in the election from the far-right ELAM and the Greek Cypriot Orthodox Church.

Pointing out that the Turkish Cypriot side had always adopted a constructive stance in international talks to end the decades-long problem, Tatar expressed the view that a two-state solution based on sovereign equality will have benefits for both sides.

He also drew attention to the cooperation proposals he tabled earlier.

“Our offer to cooperate in the areas of energy, electricity and water could be beneficial to the whole island. The resources from Türkiye and interconnectivity could also provide a win-win situation for all of us,” Tatar said.

The president concluded by saying that the TRNC will continue on its own way if efforts to reach a settlement prove unsuccessful.

BRTK