Fidan after Cyprus visit: Two-state solution is ‘most realistic’

A two-state solution to the Cyprus problem is het “most realistic” resolution, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday, after he had visited the island earlier in the day. “We always regard the security, development, and wellbeing of the Turkish Cypriot people as our top priority, and, in our capacity as a motherland and a guarantor state, we are continuing to extend our support to our Turkish Cypriot brothers and sisters in building their own future in a free, secure, and prosperous manner,” he said. He said his visit to the island, during which he had met Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel, and ‘foreign minister’ Tahsin Ertugruloglu, had been “highly productive”, before turning his attention to the Cyprus problem. “We believe that the most realistic solution to the Cyprus problem lies in the existence of two states, side by side, on the island. The recognition of the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people – as is their innate right – is a primary prerequisite for a just and lasting settlement,” he said. Related Articles • Cyprus talks at ‘crucially critical point’ • Erdogan meets Erhurman, stresses importance of Turkish Cypriots’ rights • ‘Progress is possible’ on Cyprus problem, Christodoulides says • Christodoulides accuses Erhurman of ‘setting preconditions’ on resumption of talks He added that he wished to “emphasise once more” that “the international community must take into account the rightful expectations of the Turkish Cypriots and the existing realities on the island”. To this end, he said that Turkey will, “in line with the vision which was once again set forth” by the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at his speech to the United Nations general assembly in September, “continue to defend the rights of the Turkish Cypriot people on every platform and strengthen its solidarity with the TRNC across all areas”. In line with this, he offered his congratulations in advance for “the 43rd anniversary of the establishment of the TRNC, which we will mark on November 15”. Erdogan lambasted ‘inhumane isolation’ of Turkish Cypriots Erdogan had said at the UN general assembly that the “sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people” must be recognised. “I call upon the international community to recognise and establish political, diplomatic, and economic relations with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” he said, before adding that “the inhumane isolation to which [the Turkish Cypriots] have been subjected must finally come to an end”. Fidan’s visit came with diplomatic traffic having intensified on the Cyprus problem, following the arrival of UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin on the island last week. She is set to hold a tripartite meeting with Erhurman and President Nikos Christodoulides on Monday, with it hoped that a new package of confidence-building measures between the two sides may be announced at the conclusion of that meeting.