US Senator Rick Scott blames Turkey and Erdogan for Cyprus division
During a visit to Nicosia on Friday, US Senator Rick Scott blamed Turkey and its president for the Cyprus problem and called for an independent, united island.
Nicosia, Cyprus. US Senator Rick Scott attributed the Cyprus problem entirely to Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, speaking after a tour of Nicosia’s buffer zone during his visit to the island.
Calls for a united Cyprus
Scott said Turkey and Erdogan must end their actions, which he characterised as an invasion and a violation of Cyprus’s sovereignty. He called for the island to be united and fully independent, with its people free to decide their own future.
Describing Cyprus as an independent, sovereign state, he said it was a strong ally of Israel, the United States and Greece, and could develop similar relationships with many other countries.
Scott questioned Turkey’s conduct as a Nato member, saying Erdogan supposedly sought friendship and an alliance with Washington. He urged Turkey to behave as an ally and respect the sovereignty of other states.
He also called for Cyprus to reunite, arguing that a buffer zone was unnecessary and that Cypriots should be able to make decisions for themselves.
Scott’s positions on Turkey and Iran
A Republican senator for Florida, Scott has been characterised by the Jerusalem Post as among Israel’s most outspoken defenders. Against a backdrop of worsening Israeli-Turkish relations in recent years, he said last month that Turkey was “not our friend”.
In August, Scott said he believed US President Donald Trump would have to restart regular military strikes against Iran. His remarks followed Iran’s restriction of oil flows after the conflict first erupted in the spring.
US position on settlement talks
Scott’s language on Cyprus was more blunt than that used last month by John Breslow, the US ambassador in Nicosia. Breslow said Washington “remains steadfast in its support of a Cypriot-led, United Nations-facilitated solution to the island’s division”.
Reports earlier this year indicated that the US government viewed favourably the four points put forward by Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman. Erhurman says those conditions must be fulfilled before substantive negotiations over the Cyprus problem can resume.
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