Prime Minister Ersin Tatar said that remarks published by the Sunday Express that the Turkish Cypriot side was ready for territorial concessions in the event a two-state solution was agreed were not his.
He said his remarks were misconstrued and distorted.
“No one should believe they can get anywhere by distorting what I said,” Tatar said in a written statement issued on Tuesday to clarify his remarks.
Prime Minister Ersin Tatar said that in his interview with the political editor of the ‘Sunday Express’ David Maddox, what he had tried to say was that the Turkish Cypriot side had proposed the return of more than 6 percent land but that the Greek Cypriot side had rejected this offer.
“The reporter understood that I was ready to make that concession,” he added.
Tatar said that his position, as stated in his election manifesto announced on January 18, 2020, was that territorial adjustments could be made in the event a solution on the basis of sovereign equality was to be reached on the island.
“It has however been made clear that such territorial adjustments can only be made in a manner which will not force Turkish Cypriots to relocate once again“.
Prime Minister Tatar said that he had made it abundantly clear in his interview with the ‘Sunday Express’ that the Cyprus negotiations process had collapsed as a result of the Greek Cypriot side’s intransigence.
He said that the time had come for other alternative solution models, particularly a two-state solution, to be brought to the table.
Tatar also said that the isolation and embargoes imposed on Turkish Cypriots in all fields ranging from sports to transportation and communication should be removed.
“Also, the UK which is one of three guarantor countries in Cyprus, should no longer be exploited by such practices which are a violation of human rights,” he said.
Tatar added that the Turkish Cypriot side, with Turkey’s support, was determined to protect its rights in the Eastern Mediterranean.
He underlined the importance of encouraging the Greek Cypriot side to abandon its unilateral activities on hydrocarbons and to deal with the issue under a joint committee to be established with the Turkish Cypriot side.
BRTK
