Turkish Cypriots are joint owners of Cyprus, not a minority, Erdogan claims

Turkish Cypriots are “joint owners” of the divided island of Cyprus, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday, insisting that negotiations would fail if they were treated otherwise.

“Turkish Cypriots will never be reduced to the status of a minority, as the Greek Cypriots wish, on an island where they are joint owners,” Mr Erdogan said. “Negotiations are doomed to ineffectiveness if there is no change towards an understanding that Turkish Cypriots are political equals.”

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded its northern third in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking union with Greece.

Turkey maintains a garrison of about 35,000 troops in the self-declared state, which has a population of about 300,000 people and which is recognised only by Ankara.

Efforts to re-unify the divided island collapsed at a UN-hosted peace summit in Switzerland in July.

In the talks, Greece sought to end the right of intervention in Cyprus that is held by Athens, Britain and Turkey, while the Greek Cypriots also pushed for a withdrawal of Turkish troops from the former British colony, which joined the European Union in 2004.

“The Greek Cypriots have a serious problem as regards power sharing ... they still see Cyprus as a Greek island,” Mr Erdogan said.

The last major peace push collapsed in 2004 when a proposal worked out by Kofi Annan, who was the UN secretary general at the time, was accepted by most Turkish Cypriots, but resoundingly dismissed by Greek Cypriots in twin referendums.

Mr Erdogan on Thursday made an official visit to Greece – the first by a Turkish president in 65 years.

Efforts to re-unify the divided island collapsed during a UN-hosted peace summit in Switzerland in July