THE GOVERNMENT said yesterday that the thinly veiled threats levelled by Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem at the weekend were counterproductive and confirmed Turkish intransigence on Cyprus.
Cem told the Greek newspaper Ependitis that a mutually acceptable solution for Cyprus must be based on two component states, with separate sovereignty, which would create a partnership state.
He also warned that should Cyprus join the EU without a prior solution, Turkey would move “very intensely and this will create problems to all of us.”
“Cem’s remarks confirm the intransigent position of the Turkish side, which is based on the philosophy of two separate states in Cyprus,” Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said yesterday. “Such a philosophy is totally unacceptable.”
The comments, he added, offered no possibility for progress at the Cyprus peace talks and even less chance of a settlement.
“It is interesting to note that Cem outlines these views at a time when others, either in Ankara or elsewhere, are attempting to indicate to third countries or foreign envoys that there are fresh or different thoughts on the part of the Turkish side,” Papapetrou said.
He added that Cem was essentially reiterating previous threats against Cyprus that Ankara would annex the island’s Turkish occupied part.
“I must admit, however, that on this occasion the threats are aired in a more careful and more subtle manner than in the past, but they are threats nonetheless,” the spokesman said.
Papapetrou said Turkey should have realised by now that neither Nicosia nor Brussels operated under threats and that such a policy was counterproductive.
Replying to questions, he said the difference between the position of the Turkish side (for two separate sovereign states) and that of the Greek Cypriot side (one state with a single sovereignty) was not “simply a difference” between the two interlocutors.
“Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash needs to take great strides if we are to get a solution,” Papapetrou said, noting that the EU also rejected the idea of two states in Cyprus.
The spokesman said there was no indication that Turkish intransigence was being encouraged by third parties.
He said foreign envoys continued to operate on the reasoning set out in UN resolutions.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
