The Republic of Cyprus has called on Turkey and the leadership of the Turkish Cypriots to return to the negotiating table to find a political settlement, instead of celebrating the unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) which they announced on 15 November 1983, through which they claimed to have established a self-styled regime, in Cyprus` northern Turkish occupied areas.
A statement issued by the Presidency on Wednesday, on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the UDI, says that both Ankara and the Turkish Cypriots should demonstrate sincere political will for a Cyprus solution, adding that President Anastasiades` and the government`s priority and effort is to end the Turkish occupation of the island and reunite it on the basis of the High Level Agreements , the UN Security Council Resolutions and the EU principles, of which Cyprus is a full member state and will continue to be after the solution.
The Presidency points out that the whole of the international community has condemned the illegal UDI, through a number of UN Security Council resolutions which describe the UDI as legally invalid and call on all UN member states not to recognise its outcome.
The Presidency also calls on Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots to return to the dialogue for a solution that wil create conditions of security and prosperity for all, without any guarantees, intervention rights and occupying forces.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. The leaders of the two communities, President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci have been engaged in UN-backed talks since May 2015 with the aim to reunite the island under a federal roof.
The latest round of negotiations, in July this year, ended inconclusively due to unacceptable demands by both Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots to maintain Turkish military presence on the island and retain the right of intervention and the right of guarantee which Ankara secured through the 1960 treaties that established the Republic of Cyprus.
The government of Cyprus points out that a European state needs neither guarantors nor Turkish military presence nor rights of intervention by third parties. Turkey, Greece and the UK are the three guarantor powers, according to these treaties.
On 15 November 1983, nine years after the invasion, Turkey instigated and endorsed a “unilateral declaration of independence” in the occupied area by the Turkish Cypriot leadership.
