TRNC Foreign Minister Ozdil Nami spoke to Voice of America’s Turkish Edition during his visit to Washington DC.
Below is the interview VOA published on their website:
“My visit to the United States started with the meeting with Bill Burns, Deputy Secretary of State. Then we met with officials at the State Department. Yesterday we met with the officials from the National Security Council at the White House. Today, we’re at the Congress. We are discussing about the latest developments in Cyprus with effective members of the Congress. As you know the Cyprus issue continues since 1964. Cyprus is in UN Security Council’s agenda for 50 years. This should definitely end. Turkish Cypriots have been isolated from the rest of the world and they don’t deserve to be. We have always support a federal solution to end this problem. In this regard, of course, we think that the role of the US is very important.
A joint statement was issued last month by the two leaders. This is a very important statement. The U.S.’s role was important in the creation of the joint statement which is the foundation for further steps. We expressed our wish for this support to continue.
When we look at the negotiations on the Cyprus issue we know that it is international factors that determine both sides’ actions. Therefore, decisions taken by Washington influence the decision of the parties there. For example, a significant amount of hydrocarbon deposits have been found off the coast of the island. Extracting them, to be delivered to the international market requires cooperation with big companies. At this point, the role of big American companies comes into play. On the other hand Israel found hydrocarbon gas in amounts that are greater than their own needs. They also need Europe to export that. We are in that region of the world where we believe Cyprus, Israel, Europe and Turkey can collaborate with each other and that the United States can help create a cooperative atmosphere”.
