'Northern Cyprus following path in Eastern Med hand-in-hand with Turkey'

ADANA, Turkey

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) will resolutely continue following its path in the Eastern Mediterranean without any separation with Turkey, said the country’s prime minister on Sunday.

Ersan Saner told reporters in southern Turkey that the whole world has turned its eyes to the region, which is believed to hold major gas reserves.

Emphasizing that they are in very good harmony with their homeland Turkey, Saner said they are working in full synchronization to protect the lands and solutions for two equal sovereign states on the island.

He reiterated that they will mobilize all means to promote the common interests of the Turkish nation to protect the superiority of the “Blue Homeland” at sea and in the air.

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

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece, and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted the UN's Annan plan to end the longstanding dispute.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar