Photo: AA
Click to read the article in Turkish
President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has started a two-day visit to Northern Cyprus to mark the anniversary of Turkey's military operation on the island on July 20, 1974.
Speaking in the Northern Cyprus parliament, Erdoğan said Turkey fully supports the proposal of TRNC President Ersin Tatar in Geneva. "We cannot and will not compromise," he said.
Erdoğan also announced that the construction of a new "presidential complex" will start soon in Metehan, Nicosia.
Earlier in the day, the president said any new negotiation process in Cyprus can only be held between two equal and sovereign states.
Every year, the Northern Cyprus administration celebrates July 20 as its "Peace and Freedom Day" to mark the operation – a large-scale military intervention that resulted in the division of the island.
Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
The latest round of Cyprus talks in Geneva that started in April was inconclusive as Turkey and the Northern Cyprus administration insisted on a two-state solution.
Earlier in the month, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc would never accept a two-state deal for the island.
The opposition's boycott
Meanwhile, opposition parties in Northern Cyprus boycotted today's parliamentary session that Erdoğan attended. The Republican Turkish Party (CTP) and the Communal Democracy Party (TDP), which have 15 seats combined in the 50-seat parliament of Northern Cyprus, did not attend the session.
Last week, former President Mehmet Ali Talat told Yeni Düzen newspaper that "I don't think I will attend these ceremonies, which will potentially turn into the primitive policies of challenging the world."
President Ersin Tatar accused the boycotting parties of "cooperating with Greeks."
The Cyprus dispute
In the Republic of Cyprus, which was founded in 1960, both communities had the right of representation in all institutions (70 percent for Greeks and 30 percent for Turks). Cyprus has been divided since 1974. Two-thirds of the island is governed by Greeks. It is internationally recognized as the Republic of Cyprus and a member of the European Union. The northern part of the island, which is called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) by the Turks, is a country with a population of 300,000 and is only recognized by Turkey. Northern Cyprus reopened the abandoned town of Varosha (Maraş) before the first round of the election. |
(NÖ/VK)
