FM: Treat two sides equally
FOREIGN Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu has called on Israel to treat the two sides of Cyprus equally. Mr Ertuğruloğlu made the call during a recent interview with the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation.
Explaining why a settlement in Cyprus has not been reached for more than half a century, Mr Ertuğruloğlu said: “There is only one basic reason why 50-odd years of negotiations failed.
“That is because the negotiations were conducted between unequals, and so long as the Greek Cypriots are treated as if they are the Republic of Cyprus and we are not treated for who we are, there is no necessity to negotiate in the same manner.”
Mr Ertuğruloğlu said that the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots “were two cofounder partners [of the] 1960formed Republic of Cyprus” and that the relationship between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriot “was one of political equality and not of majority versus minority”.
He continued: “The legitimacy of the republic was based on the continuation of the partnership so that neither [we] nor the Greek Cypriots would have the right to claim to be the Republic of Cyprus by excluding the other partner, yet that is exactly what happened.”
The Cyprus issue is a “national cause” for the Turkish Cypriots “and motherland Turkey” Mr Ertuğruloğlu added.
Answering a question about the future of the Cyprus issue, he replied: “The future depends on the international community [deciding] to correct its mistake and treat the two former partners of Cyprus as two equals, and not insist on imposing a new negotiating process between Greek Cypriots as the supposed Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriots who are the so-called secessionist ethnic minority of Cyprus . . . this inequality is what has prevented a settlement on the island of Cyprus.”
Stating that there is no “Cypriot nation” Mr Ertuğruloğlu said that Israel is a “very important country” for the TRNC.
“Obviously I would love to have better relations with the state of Israel,” he said.
“I visited Israel a number of times. It is a very important, very special country – not just for the Turkish Cypriot people, but for the whole of the Middle East and internationally.”
Mr Ertuğruloğlu said that in the past the TRNC had a representative based in Tel Aviv but who had to be recalled from Israel after his work permit was not authorised by the Israeli authorities. The TRNC office in Tel Aviv is still available for use, he added.