Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu said Monday that the U.N. has stolen 50 years from the country and from now on they will not let it waste more of their time, referring to the failed Cyprus reunification negotiations that were conducted through the U.N.
Hosting the head of the Federation of Journalists of Turkey (TGF), Yılmaz Karaca and some other board members who were visiting Turkish Cyprus, Ertuğruloğlu mentioned the failure of the Cyprus reunification negotiations that were held in Crans-Montana, Switzerland in July.
Pointing to the Greek Cypriot officials' statements regarding the continuation of negotiations after the Turkish Cyprus's upcoming elections, Ertuğruloğlu said neither Turkey nor Turkish Cyprus should be "fooled by these kinds of tricks." "In Switzerland, the 50-year process has collapsed, the federation talks have failed," Ertuğruloğlu said.
"The U.N. has stolen 50 years from us. Yet, we will not let it steal our time further. From now on, the only negotiations can be with the presence of the two sides," Ertuğluoğlu said, adding that as long as Turkish Cypriots are seen as a minority and overwhelmed by isolation, a solution will not be reached even if there are negotiations for 500 years.
Following the elections that will be held on Jan. 7, Ertuğruloğlu said the new process regarding the future of the Cyprus reunification negotiations should be discussed with Turkey.
The Crans-Montana talks, which began on June 28, and were monitored by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide, failed after 10 days of intense discussions.
After the failure of the talks, Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı said the unfortunate result was not the end of the world, and although disappointing, they will continue to search for a solution. Akıncı also stressed that even though the effort was not successful, he believes that the Turkish Cypriot delegation had done what they could to reach a solution.
