Straw: “Only a partitioned island will bring the dispute between Turkish and Greek Cypriots to an end”
A negotiated solution to the Cyprus problem through the creation of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation is impossible due to Greek Cypriot intransigence, according to Britain’s former Foreign Minister, Jack Straw, who believes the only viable alternative is a two-state solution.
According to an article by Straw in mainstream newspaper, The Independent, the dispute between the Turkish and the Greek Cypriots in Cyprus can only be ended by partition.
Straw expressed that in one of its worst strategic decisions ever, the European Union (sadly, with UK acquiescence) had agreed that Cyprus should join the EU on 1 May 2004, whether agreement had been reached with the Turkish Cypriots or not.
Pointing out that last July’s international conference on Cyprus in Crans-Montana failed because of the stance of the Greek Cypriot side, Straw said that earlier this summer the 11th international effort to strike a deal between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots was rejected by the Greek-Cypriot government – as every previous one has been. “So”, he adds, whatever its terms, “will the next, and the next”.
“It is time to end the charade that a negotiated agreement to unite the island with a ‘bi-zonal, bi-communal’ government will even be possible,” Straw wrote.
“The solution is to partition the island and give international recognition to the Turkish Cypriot state in the north.”
Straw said: “The Greek junta itself fell as a result of the Cyprus coup. There was then a ceasefire. It can be argued, as many have done, that the Turks overreacted by the number of troops they have stationed on the island ever since. But it’s hard to argue that the Turkish government should simply have sat on their hands. Certainly the UK would not have done, if it had been a British minority under such a threat”.
Adding that Greek Cypriot side has hardly acquitted itself as a model member of the EU, Straw said that it faced an existential banking crisis in 2012-13. Last month The Guardian claimed that Greek Cypriot government has raised more than €4bn since 2013 by providing citizenship (with rights across the EU) to foreign nationals, including “billionaire Russian oligarchs and Ukrainian business elites”.
Straw said: “It’s time, in my view, for the international community to acknowledge this reality and recognise the partition of the island. That would be far more likely to improve relations between the two communities than continuing the useless merry-go-round of further negotiations for a settlement that never can be”.
Özgürgün: “Turkish Cypriot athletes who compete in international arenas under the Turkish flag send a message to the world.”
Prime Minister Hüseyin Özgürgün received Turkish Athletics Federation President Fatih Çintimar and World Champion 200m sprinter Ramil Guliyev ahead of the TRNC International Athletics Championship which will be held at the Lefkoşa Atatürk Stadium.
Prime Minister Hüseyin Özgürgün stated that the TRNC’s many talented athletes encounter great difficulties in the sporting arena due to the embargos that have been imposed on the Turkish Cypriot people. Özgürgün also said that the TRNC was sending a clear message to the world by giving talented Turkish Cypriot athletes the opportunity to compete in international arenas under the Turkish flag.
Today, 60 athletes from 10 countries will participate in the competition, which is organized by the TRNC Athletics Federation in Lefkoşa. TRNC athlete and World athletics champion Ramil Guliyev will compete in the games, as well as Ukrainian World Championship High Jump Silver Medallist Yuliya Levchenko.
Denktaş: “Turkish Cypriots will never be a minority.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Serdar Denktaş has stated that Turkish Cypriots will never be a minority, adding that the world is gradually beginning to acknowledge and accept this reality.
In his statement on social media, Denktaş criticized a form that had been distributed at schools in South Cyprus which categorizes Turkish Cypriots as an ethnic minority. Denktaş reminded Turkish Cypriots of their right to self-determination and self-government on the island.
“There has been one word which I have emphasised from the beginning and that is sovereignty. Our people’s sovereign rights on this island,” he said.
Denktaş pointed out that by placing Turkish Cypriots in a minority category, the Greek Cypriot government have given clear evidence of their true perception of Turkish Cypriots.
“Recently, there have been two important news items,” he continued. “The first was a statement made by Mr. Anastasiades who has stated that a minority cannot rule over a majority. The second was an article published by the former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in the Independent, a UK newspaper. Straw argues that the only solution to the Cyprus Problem is partitioning the island and giving international recognition to Turkish Cypriots. I feel a deep pride when I look at these stories because they show that we have not bowed down to those who view us as a minority. We have defended our right to exist and our sovereignty,” he added.
Ertuğruloğlu condemns the terror attack in Las Vegas
Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu offered his condolences to the citizens of the United States after yesterday’s mass shooting near the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas, which left 59 dead and at least 500 hundred wounded.
Expressing his deep sorrow for the victims of the attack, Ertuğruloğlu said that he shares the grief of the American people at this difficult time and condemns the cruel mentality which carries such heinous acts of violence in the world.
Source: TRNC Public Information Office –
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