Turkey insists on two states in ethnically divided Cyprus as UN looks to restart peace talks

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) – Turkey on Wednesday reiterated its insistence on a two-nation peace deal in ethnically divided Cyprus as the United Nations prepares to meet with all sides in early spring in hopes of resuming formal talks to resolve one of the world’s most pressing problems. conflicts.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Cyprus “must continue on the path of a two-state solution” and that spending efforts on other plans to end the century-long division of Cyprus would be “a waste of time.”

Fidan spoke to reporters after talks with Ersin Tatar, the leader of a rebel group of Turkish Cypriots whose declaration of independence in 1983 in the northern third of Cyprus is recognized only by Turkey.

The ethnic split of Cyprus occurred in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup, sponsored by the then ruling Greek junta, aimed at uniting the eastern Mediterranean island with the Greek state.

The latest major push for a peace deal came down in 2017.

Turkey advocated a two-state arrangement in which the numerically small Turkish Cypriots would never be a minority in any power-sharing arrangement.

But Greek Cypriots do not support the two-state deal, which they see as legitimizing the island’s secession and perpetuating what they see as the threat of a permanent Turkish military presence on the island.

Greek Cypriot officials have maintained that the 2017 talks broke down largely over Turkey’s insistence on keeping at least some of its estimated 35,000 troops currently scattered on the northern island, as well as insisting on military intervention rights in any new peace deal.

The UN, the European Union and others have rejected a two-state Cyprus deal, saying the only way forward is an alliance agreement with the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot territories.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is preparing to hold an informal meeting in Switzerland in March. The Greek Cypriot President of the island, Nikos Christodoulides, says he is ready to resume official talks but ruled that there are no talks on a two-state solution.

Tatar, the leader of a Turkish rebel group, said the meeting would bring together the two sides in Cyprus, the foreign ministers of “reassuring powers” Greece and Turkey and a senior British official to plan the “next steps” regarding the future of Cyprus.