Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kudret Ozersay evaluated the statements made by President Nicos Anastasiades regarding political equality and noted that there is a clear indication that the Greek Cypriot side has not been able to absorb even the founding parameters of a federal partnership.
Issuing a written statement, Ozersay thanked President Anastasiades for clearly stating his view instead of concealing it.
Drawing attention to the fact that the Greek Cypriot leader had clearly stated that they, as the Greek Cypriot side, would not accept the political equality of the Turkish Cypriot people, Ozersay said that what the Greek Cypriot leader had voiced was also a view voiced by all Greek Cypriot leaders in the past, as well.
Stating that the necessary conditions for a federal partnership did not exist, Ozersay said that despite knowing this fact, there are those that are still insisting on a federal partnership but what they are really insisting on, is maintaining the status quo that will support the continuation of the negotiations process.
Ozersay said that he wasn’t making this statement on behalf of the government but as an academician who has, for the past 20 years, been part of the Cyprus negotiations process and is voicing his perception on the matter.
“Mr. Anastasiades is clearly saying ‘we are not accepting political equality the way you think, and we never will’. If a federal partnership is established on some issues even if you don’t want it, even if the Turkish Cypriot people don’t want it, we will make decisions on that issue. What the Greek Cypriot people want will come to pass, that’s what he is saying. How can he possibly be clearer?” Ozersay asked.
He further added that what the Turkish Cypriot side understands and what has been written in UN documents as political equality, is perceived as political inequality by the Greek Cypriot leader. “The difference here is like the difference between night and day”, Ozersay said, adding what else do people need to hear to understand that a federal partnership is not possible in Cyprus.
The time has come to face the realities on the island, he concluded.
BRT
