Presidential spokesman Barış Burcu has said that it was explicit that Turkish Cypriots will be in the majority in their own constituent state in the event of a settlement.
Burcu was responding to earlier remarks by the Greek Cypriot spokesman Nicos Christodoulides that there will be no explicit majority of Turkish Cypriots or Greek Cypriots in either constituent state.
In a written statement issued Monday, Burcu said that the Greek Cypriot spokesman’s remarks did not reflect or include all the facts and was leading to mistaken perceptions regarding the process.
“People with internal citizenship of one constituent state, as and when a settlement is reached, and who subsequently seek legal domicile in the other constituent state, will only be able to comprise 20 percent of the population of the other constituent state. Under these conditions, Turkish Cypriots will be the majority in their constituent state, and Greek Cypriots will be the majority in theirs.” he said.
Legal domicile, and the right of abode without political rights, are two different matters, Burcu added.
“President Mustafa Akıncı when sharing information with the public regarding the convergences reached with the Greek Cypriot side shows utmost attention to convey all the facts correctly and as a whole. All that the President had said after Monday’s leaders’ meeting was that people will have the right to live where they want whether it be a summer home or an apartment or for work purposes. This will be possible without any legal or other rights. What Christodoulides has been referring to is about the right to stay”, he said.
“We find it really difficult to understand the logic of the statements made by the Greek Cypriot side without putting forward the entire picture and without taking into consideration our sensibilities as well”, Burcu commented.
BRTK
