‘Isolation of the Turkish Cypriots is a crime against humanity’

The international isolation suffered by the Turkish Cypriot people since 1963 is a “crime against humanity”, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Wednesday.

“Those who remain silent about this situation are, knowingly or unknowingly, complicit in this crime,” he said, speaking outside the TRNC presidential palace with president Ersin Tatar in Lefkosa on Wednesday.

“The Republic of Turkey is making efforts to ensure that the TRNC is not harmed by this international isolation and will continue to do so. We will continue to increase cooperation with the TRNC with all our institutions.”

Moving onto the matter of the modern Cyprus problem, he said “a reality has emerged on this island in the last 50 years”.

“This reality has enabled two separate societies and two separate segments of this island to govern themselves independently of each other and reach this day. Cyprus needs to continue on its path with a two-state solution. Seeking a solution to the Cyprus problem with methods which have not yielded results for 50 years is a futile waste of time.”

He added that all of Turkey’s interlocutors see no other solution than one on the basis of two states.

“Trying to force methods that are not compatible with reality is not right in terms of the international system and international law,” he said, adding that “the cooperation which the two states will develop on the island will have much more potential than being under a single roof”.

“Everyone continues on their way without taking political risks, but this will not bring about a solution on the island and will not compensate for the economic losses caused by the past years,” he said.

“We invite the international community to see this reality and to do what is necessary. It happened in East Timor, it happened in South Sudan, why not in Cyprus? My main call here is to the Greek Cypriot side. If they want to take the island of Cyprus further, I invite them to be brave in implementing such solutions.”

Tatar also spoke, saying, “in an unjust global environment that does not hesitate to trample on human rights when it comes to its own interests, we are waging a great fight to confirm our sovereign equality and equal international status”.

He added that he is “grateful” to Turkey, “which has stood by us in this process and mobilised all its resources”.

“It is obvious that our access to our basic human rights has been prevented for 61 years. It is futile to waste more time on exhausted grounds which condemn the Turkish Cypriot people to both isolation and the status quo. The Turkish Cypriot side says ‘no’ to the status quo,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Fidan had met the north’s ‘foreign minister’ Tahsin Ertugruloglu, and he is due to meet ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel later on Wednesday evening.

The Republic was less impressed by Fidan’s visit to the island, saying that in visiting the north, he was “sending messages of intransigence and contempt for decisions made by the United Nations and the European Union”.