Ex-Turkish Cypriot leader calls Turkey's Cyprus policy 'hypocritical'

Former Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı has called Turkey's Cyprus policy "hypocritical," as he noted that "Cyprus belongs to those living on it." He also slammed the informal talks held last month, calling it "a fiasco."

Thursday May 06 2021 01:01 pm

Duvar English

Former Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı has slammed Turkey's Cyprus policy, saying that it's "hypocritical."

Akıncı also slammed the Cyprus talks held in Geneva between April 27 and 29, calling it "a historical fiasco."

The United Nations failed on April 29 to bridge disagreements over restarting peace talks on ethnically-split Cyprus.

"The truth is that at the end of our efforts, we have not yet found enough common ground to allow for the resumption of formal negotiations," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said after the summit.

"We are facing a political hypocrisy," Akıncı said of Turkey's policies, noting that Turkey doesn't take the necessary steps for Turkish Cyprus' recognition.

Cyprus was split in two in a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup. The seeds of division had been sown earlier, when a power-sharing administration of Greek and Turkish Cypriots crumbled amid violence, just three years after independence from Britain in 1960.

For decades, the United Nations has been attempting to piece Cyprus back together as a two-zone federation - the only thing the two sides had, until recently, been able to agree to in principle.

Under the current Ankara-backed leadership, Turkish Cypriots now say only a two-state solution can work.

"I'll tell you what will happen. Turkish Cyprus become will become more and more dependent on Turkey and its demography will undergo changes. If things continue the way they are, they will deem Turkish Cyprus a province of Turkey," Akıncı said.

Commenting on Turkish far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli's remarks on Cyprus being Turkish and will remain so, Akıncı said, "Bahçeli's understanding is nor related to peace, neither stability."

"There is a society that has been living in Cyprus for 3,000 years, Greeks [Rums]. We came and became a society of this place in 1571. There are other communities. Cyprus belongs to those living on it. It is of those working here," the former president said.

Akıncı was a politician disliked by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) because of his repeated calls on Turkey to respect Turkish Cyprus' internal affairs and his defense of reunification with the Greek side under a federal roof.