Turkish Grand National Assembly Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş has dismissed as unfounded remarks on the Cyprus issue made by House of Representatives President Annita Demetriou at a conference of European parliament speakers in Rome. In a statement published on Friday, he restated Turkey’s version of the Cyprus issue, claiming there are two “peoples” on the island, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
Kurtulmuş’s statement
“There can be no solution in Cyprus by ignoring the Turkish side,” Mr Kurtulmuş said, according to the statement by the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
He claimed that Turkish Cypriots have equal rights on the island and that any attempt to resolve the Cyprus issue must take their presence into account.
“Until the end of the world, the Turkish Cypriot people will continue to live on the island of Cyprus as equal citizens,” he said.
Claims about 1960 and 1963
According to the statement, Mr Kurtulmuş referred to the founding of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960, claiming it was created as a partnership state of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, with Turkey, Greece and Britain as guarantor powers.
He claimed that in 1963 the constitutional order was overturned by forces seeking the union of Cyprus with Greece, blaming the Greek Cypriot side for the events that followed.
He also claimed that Ankara tried for eleven years to resolve the Cyprus issue through diplomacy.
Defence of the 1974 military action
Referring to 1974, Mr Kurtulmuş defended the Turkish military intervention, which he described as a “peace operation”, claiming it was carried out under Turkey’s rights as a guarantor power.
The position of the Republic of Cyprus
These claims reflect Turkey’s long-standing arguments on the Cyprus issue. They contradict the position of the Republic of Cyprus, which describes the 1974 Turkish military intervention as an invasion and the continued presence of Turkish troops as occupation.
What Annita Demetriou said in Rome
According to the announcement by the House of Representatives, Ms Demetriou had condemned the Turkish invasion and continuing occupation and categorically rejected a two-state solution.
She reiterated that the Republic of Cyprus seeks a solution based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, in line with UN resolutions.
She also called on Turkey to comply with its international obligations, highlighting the different treatment of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus.
