Some EU countries attempt to act as mediators in Cyprus conflict, FM Özersay says

Some European countries are attempting to act as mediators in the Cyprus dispute over natural resources, Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Kudret Özersay said.

"Some EU member states and prominent countries have been attempting to undertake the role of mediator between the two sides over natural resources in the past six months," Özersay said in a speech at the Parliament of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

He noted that more than just one actor is attempting to mediate.

Özersay said if it serves the international actors' interests and the international companies do not want to risk their investments, they might be ready to support cooperation on the issue of natural resources.

Turkey, as a guarantor nation for the TRNC, is currently carrying out hydrocarbon exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean with two drilling vessels.

Ankara has consistently contested the Greek Cypriot administration's unilateral drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, asserting that the TRNC also has rights to the resources in the area.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey used its guarantor rights to intervene on the island after a far-right Greek Cypriot military coup sponsored by the military junta then in power in Athens sought to unite the island with Greece. The coup followed a decade of interethnic violence and terrorism targeting Turkish Cypriots, who were forced to live in enclaves when Greek Cypriots unilaterally changed the constitution in 1963 and stripped the island's Turks of their political rights.

The decades since have seen several attempts to resolve the Cyprus dispute, all ending in failure. The latest attempt, held in 2017 in Switzerland with the participation of the guarantor countries Turkey, Greece and the U.K., came to an end without any progress.