Responding to the remarks made by the President of Turkey Rejep Tayyip Erdogan at the 74th U.N. General Assembly in New York, the Press Office of the CC of the Progressive Party of the Working People (AKEL) issued the following statement:
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reiterated from the podium of the UN General Assembly Turkey's well-known positions on the Cyprus problem and its claims in the Eastern Mediterranean. The leader of the occupyingpower has even provocatively claimed that the Greek Cypriots are the reason why the Cyprus problem has not been resolved for 50 years.
- Whether the Turkish President admits it or not, the first and foremost responsibility for the non-solution of the Cyprus problem cannot be sought anywhere else other than Turkey itself, the force that with 40,000 occupation troops is illegally keeping Cyprus and its people divided, colonizing the island and systematically violating the Resolutions of the UN Security Council and international law.
- With regardsthe issues related to security and guarantees, Turkey’s government knowsvery well aware at what point the discussions at Crans Montana were halted. It is aware that we had remained on the common position of the UN Secretary-General, the European Union, Greece and the United Kingdom for the abolition of the guarantees and intervention rights, the speedy withdrawal of the occupation troops and with the only pending issue being the issue of the contingents of ELDYK and TURKEY. If Turkey has contrary or different positions, it will find itself in conflict with the UN and all the other involved parties.
- As far as the rights of the Turkish Cypriots to natural gas are concerned, these are safeguarded in the convergences achieved in relation to the Exclusive Economic Zone, natural resources and the distribution of federal revenues. So, if Turkey cares about the rights of the Turkish Cypriots, it will have to consent to a solution of the Cyprus problem on the basis of the agreed framework so that the Turkish Cypriots can enjoy these rights in practice. As for Turkey's own assertions, the Turkish President must know that in the modern world the only way forward is International Law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and not the Turkish misinterpretations and the force of arms.
Let Turkey at least hear the Turkish Cypriots who are asserting a free, independent, united and federal Cyprus, without armies and barbed wires of division, without “guardians” and foreign interventions, a common homeland for all Cypriots.
Nicosia, 25th September 2019.
