Turkey hints at dropping federal solution on decades-old Cyprus problem

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy, has said “that it is time to try a new way” to solve the decades-old Cyprus problem, a hint that turkey is trying to drop a federal solution.

The island has been divided since 1974 when a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by violence against the Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus and Ankara’s intervention as a guarantor power.

The Turkish foreign ministry official said reunifying Cyprus as a federation may not be possible and is suggesting that alternatives should be examined to resolve the island’s decades-long ethnic division.

Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy blamed the “Greek Cypriots’ mindset” for the endless failure of numerous rounds of negotiations aimed at reunifying the island, including the latest which collapsed in July 2017.

Aksoy said Turkey believes “that it is time to try a new way” to achieving a settlement. He gave no details as to what the alternatives could be.

Turkey has always supported a federal settlement for Cyprus and it would be a major departure from long-established frameworks on which negotiations have been founded over the past forty years.

The agreed framework envisions the two zones separately administered by Greek and Turkish Cypriots unifying under a jointly run federal body.

TRT World