Turkey wants territory, property, guarantees and security to be the last issues to be taken up in the Cyprus negotiations, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said.
Referring to the Cyprus negotiations taking place in Mont Pèlerin in Switzerland, while speaking in a parliamentary debate at the Turkish Grand National Assembly, the foreign minister said that the negotiations had reached a critical phase, noting that progress had been made on four chapters.
“They have come to an agreement on some of the issues on the four chapters but there are still things that need to be discussed. For example the period of the rotating presidency” said Çavuşoğlu.
Çavuşoğlu said that given the current developments in the eastern Mediterranean, giving up Turkish guarantees was out of the question.
“Natural gas and oil, that’s where all eyes are. To its east, we used to have ferryboat trips to Syria now there are warships between Cyprus and Syria. Everyone is in Syria. There are the Russians, the Americans, Iranians, Hezbollah, Shi’ite, PKK, YPG, DAESH, El Nursa and then there is the threat of more refugees. Who is going to protect the Turkish Cypriots against these threats? Therefore the protection of Turkish Cypriots is very important to us”, said Çavuşoğlu.
He added that President Mustafa Akıncı was adamant that Turkey’s guarantees remain in place for the Turkish Cypriots.
Pointing to the disputes that remain in deadlock in Karabakh, Serbia, Crimea and Cyprus, Çavuşoğlu said that all of these situations pose potential threats.
If you cannot prevent the problem then you can contribute to its solution, he said.
BRT
