The Turkish Cypriots, who make up a minority of 18 percent in Cyprus cannot hold the presidency of the island, when Greek Cypriots have the majority of 82 percent, Archbishop Chrysostomos said on Sunday.
Referring to the issue of a rotating presidency remains unresolved in the Cyprus negotiations, during a mass held in Nicosia, the Archbishop said that the Turkish Cypriots should forget the idea of a rotating presidency, “unless they prove to us that there is a country where 18 percent of the population elects the president of the country.”
“Then we will go and vote for Akinci to become the President of the Republic of Cyprus,” he added.
Later on he told journalists that he had conveyed his concerns to President Anastasiades and party leaders, saying that everyone knew that the Greek Cypriots would not vote for this.
Regarding the rights of settlers in the north, the Archbishop said that those married to Turkish Cypriots should be able to stay for humanitarian reasons, but the others should leave the island.
There has been a dramatic shift in the demographics of Cyprus where there are almost one million residents, eighty percent of whom have Cypriot citizenship. The two leaders have agreed that the population of the north for the purposes of a settlement would be fixed at 220,000 and the Greek Cypriot population would be 802,000.
Cyprus Mail
