Turkey singles out two-state formula to resolve Cyprus problem

Turkey will not negotiate anything but the two-state formula for resolving the decades-old deadlock in Cyprus, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, slamming both Greece and Greek Cyprus for their continued ignorance of the presence and rights of the Turkish Cypriot community on the island.

"There is no way out in Cyprus other than a two-state solution. Whether you accept it or not," Erdoğan said in his weekly address to the Justice and Development Party (AKP) group at the parliament on Feb. 10.

"When we look at the recent statement of the Greek and the Greek Cypriots sides, we see there is not the slightest change in their attitude, ignoring the Turkish Cypriots," he said.

Erdoğan referred to the statement by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades at a press conference on the island earlier this week, who have reiterated that the only solution to the Cyprus problem was a "bizonal, bicommunal federation."

Erdoğan's strongly-worded statement came weeks before the convention of the 5+1 meeting with the participation of Turkish and Greek Cypriots as well as the three guarantor countries - Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom - under the U.N. auspices.

Efforts to find a solution to the problem using the old formulas, including a federation, are meaningless, Erdoğan said, suggesting a new and result-oriented understanding for the Cyprus problem in line with the spirit of the new era.

After the election of Ersin Tatar as the president of Turkish Cyprus, Turkey and Turkish Cyprus do loudly voice their intention to negotiate a two-state solution to the problem as the Greek Cypriots rejected the Annan Plan in 2004 and denied to share the power with the Turkish Cypriots in mid-2017...