Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertugruloglu evaluated President Mustafa Akinci’s statement on the issue of guarantees in the event of a Cyprus settlement.
Despite thanking Akinci for his earlier statements that “a system of guarantees without Turkey was unacceptable for Turkish Cypriots”, Ertugruloglu said that this itself was not enough and that there is a need to take the issue a step further.
He underlined that the only guarantee that could be acceptable for Turkish Cypriots was one in which Turkey had the unilateral right to intervene if the need should arise.
Stating that it would not be possible to talk about the existence of guarantees if the necessary sensitivity is not shown on the issue, Ertugruloglu cited the example of the 1974 Turkish military intervention within the context of the 1960 Republic agreement.
He said: “If Turkey had been able to intervene in Cyprus on the 20th of July 1974, this was because of her right to act which stemmed from the treaties of guarantees”.
BRT
