Realistic alternatives need to be discussed in Cyprus, says Erdoğan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that the time has come to discuss realistic alternatives and new models for the solution of the Cyprus Problem rather than models that have been unsuccessful over the years.  

It is now clear that there will be no Mediterranean peace if the equation does not include Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, said Erdoğan. 

Evaluating the regional developments at a meeting with ambassadors of EU member states at the Çankaya Palace, Turkish President Erdoğan drew attention to the bloc’s recent lack of contact with the Turkish Cypriot side. 

Responding to a question as to how the EU can play a facilitating role in the settlement of the Cyprus issue, the Turkish president reiterated that it was now understood that Mediterranean peace will not come out of any equation in which Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus are not included in. 

Touching upon the developments taking place in the Eastern Mediterranean, Erdoğan said that they objected to any attempts that tried to incarcerate Turkey’s beaches by using maximalist maps that have no validity. 

The agenda for Turkish-EU relations has been abused by taking refuge behind the pretext of unity and solidarity. This approach, on the one hand, captures our deep-rooted relations, and on the other hand, undermines the EU’s claim to be a regional and global power. We must stop the eastern Mediterranean from being an area of competition and turn it into a basin of cooperation that will serve our long-term interests, said Erdoğan.