Turkish Cypriots hit back over guarantees

The ‘foreign affairs ministry’ in the north told the government on Monday to stop trying to speak on behalf of Turkish Cypriots, as they have their own elected leader.

The announcement was in response to statements made by government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides on Sunday, who said that keeping Turkey as a guarantor power would have a negative impact on Turkish Cypriots as it would give Turkey the opportunity to meddle into their affairs post-settlement.

Turkish Cypriots, Christodoulides had said, must choose “which future they prefer”; a reunited country which will be an EU member-state or one which includes Turkey “with the developments we experience today”.

In the announcement, the Turkish Cypriot side said that the security and guarantees provided by Turkey would never be replaced by the status of an EU member-state. It added that the effective guarantee of Turkey was necessary.

Christodoulides’ statement that the continuation of Turkey’s guarantee would have a negative impact on Turkish Cypriots was illogical, it said.

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.