Ankara has pointed out that the irreconcilable attitude of the Greek Cypriots is the reason for not being able to solve the longstanding problems on the island of Cyprus.

"The reason for Cyprus still not achieving a solution is the irreconcilable attitude of Greek Cypriots who have adopted insolubility as a maxim," Vice President Fuat Oktay said yesterday marking the 35th foundation anniversary of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

"Turkey will continue to display its righteous and firm stance with determination in Cyprus, Syria and Libya," Oktay said.

Highlighting that the TRNC is one of the two founding and equal parts of the island and Turkey, Oktay reiterated Ankara's firm stance on not allowing the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus (GCASC) to ignore this fact.

The island of Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when a Greek Cypriot coup took place after decades of violence against the island's Turkish community and Ankara's intervention as a guarantor power. It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including the latest initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece and the U.K. that collapsed in 2017.

In fact, as numerous diplomatic efforts have been exerted both domestically and internationally and myriad negotiations made to achieve peaceful different forms of solution after Turkish Cyprus proclaimed its independence, it has often voiced its eagerness for a partnership agreement that safeguards the sovereign equality of both sides.