Turkish Cyprus FM urges partnership for solution

The presidency is an important position for overcoming the "frozen uncertainty" in Cyprus and "the deadlocked problem can be solved with more creative and new ideas," according to a top Turkish Cypriot politician.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency in London, Kudret Özersay, deputy prime minister and foreign minister of the Turkish Cyprus, said the international conjuncture has become more suitable to discuss new ideas outside preconceptions and even the Greek Cypriot leadership has now started questioning alternative ideas behind closed doors.

Özersay, who is running for the presidency, underlined the "significance of the presidency" as the reason for his candidacy and said the presidency is an internationally accepted rank for Turkish Cypriots.

"I have become a candidate as I believe that I can make Turkish Cypriots' voice heard in the international arena in the best way possible and I can take them out of this uncertainty," he said.

"I have not become a candidate to continue a conventional and unfruitful negotiation process," Özersay said.

He said the Turkish Cyprus does not need a president who only "attends the negotiations" but one who would "represent the Turkish Cypriot people in the best way possible in all international platforms."

Özersay said the Greek Cypriot community and politicians do not have the will to share governance and wealth with the Turkish community in Cyprus.

"This is an important absence. It is impossible to form and continue a federal partnership in a medium where this [will] is lacking. We live in a medium where the sides have distrust against each other… [Trust] is a must-have condition for a federation."

Özersay said a federal culture is also needed for a...