Nicosia, Cyprus. Turkish Cypriot ‘foreign minister’ Tahsin Ertugruloglu on Friday criticised President Nikos Christodoulides’ meeting with newly appointed European Union envoy for the Cyprus problem Raffaele Fitto.
He said Fitto’s appointment had been made without the consent of the Turkish Cypriot side and that the envoy had no legitimacy in its eyes.
Criticism of EU role
Ertugruloglu referred to what he described as the EU’s “insistence on intervening” in the Cyprus problem and condemned Fitto’s appointment.
“Therefore, any activity undertaken in our country in this capacity, or any attempt to interfere in a possible process, is unacceptable to our government and will not be considered in any way a legitimate interlocutor,” he said.
Conditions for EU contribution
Ertugruloglu said that if the EU was sincere about contributing constructively to efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem, it should first fulfil its commitments to Turkish Cypriots and take concrete steps to end what he described as their cultural, economic and political “isolations”.
He said he did not expect the EU to respond positively.
Position on a settlement
Ertugruloglu said there are “two separate peoples, two separate states and two separate democratic authorities on the island”.
He added that a lasting and sustainable agreement would only be possible through acceptance of those realities, affirmation of the sides’ sovereign equality and equal international status, and the establishment of a cooperative relationship between two states.
Christodoulides-Fitto meeting
Christodoulides and Fitto met earlier on Friday at the presidential palace, two days after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the island and met both leaders.
Following the meetings, Guterres announced plans for a new enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem.
