THE Turkish side does not have the good will and cannot convince anyone it wants a solution to the Cyprus problem, the government said yesterday.
Responding to comments made by Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, the government spokesman said “it shows the Turkish side lacks good will and does not convince anyone that it wants a solution.”
On the 27th anniversary of the declaration of the breakaway state yesterday, Eroglu said there are two states, two republics and two peoples in Cyprus.
“A solution in the Cyprus problem cannot be found with separatist perceptions or perceptions, which are outside and beyond United Nations resolutions,” Stefanos Stefanou said.
These statements also contradict Turkey’s declaration that it wants a Cyprus solution the soonest, Stefanou said.
The spokesman said Turkey should respect and implement the UN resolutions and cooperate to achieve a mutually agreed solution to the Cyprus problem.
“The (Turkish) occupation is there, recorded in resolutions and decisions,” Stefanou said. “Turkey illegally invaded Cyprus in 1974 and illegally occupies 37 per cent of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus.”
Stefanou reiterated the Greek Cypriot side’s will to resolve the Cyprus problem and reunite the country and its people – “a solution that will secure the human rights and basic freedoms of our people.”
Stefanou said Turkey was trying to upgrade the breakaway state using as alibi the “so-called” exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from isolation.
An effort to upgrade the breakaway state is also made through the Turkish Cypriot proposals for the property issue,” the spokesman said.
“This proposal tries to legalise the breakaway state by presenting it as the supposed legal owner of Turkish Cypriot properties, it supposedly has the right to exchange with Greek Cypriot properties,” Stefanou said.
In the north, Eroglu said: “Negotiations on the property issue have reached deadlock…
this deadlock has to be broken,” Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu said.
“The Turkish army is in Cyprus to prevent the Greek and Greek Cypriot invasion from spreading over the whole of the island, and the annihilation of the Turkish Cypriot people,” he added “There is no land under occupation on Cyprus.”
The two sides have been bogged down on the property issue, prompting the UN to invite them for a meeting in New York on Thursday in a bid to inject some momentum in the talks.
Yesterday, the Anadolu news agency quoted Eroglu as saying a property regime and restricted return of properties is obligatory.
