Turkey endorses Turkish Cypriot vision in Geneva

ANKARA

Turkey staunchly backs the vision Turkish Cyprus laid out in an informal meeting held in Geneva on the future of the island, the country's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

"In #Geneva stated strong support for Turkish Cypriot side’s vision of sovereign equality & equal intl status & its proposal to this end," Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) explained during the meeting why a federal solution, involving a single state with the current Greek Cypriot administration, would not be possible, said Cavusoglu, adding that a "fair, permanent and sustainable solution" could only be achieved "based on realities" on the island.

During the five-plus-one meeting between the two sides, guarantor countries Turkey, Greece, and Britain, Cavusoglu also met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and discussed the solution on Cyprus.

"Met w/ #UNSG@antonioguterres, who’s hosting Informal 5+UN meeting. The solution on Cyprus should be based on international equal status and sovereign equality of two sides. Peace and stability for whole region can only be possible w/cooperation of two States on island," he said in a separate Twitter post.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long struggle between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

The island has been divided since 1964 when ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power. The TRNC was founded in 1983.

The Greek Cypriot administration, backed by Greece, became a member of the EU in 2004, although most Greek Cypriots rejected a UN settlement plan in a referendum that year, which had envisaged a reunited Cyprus joining the EU.