Military history of Cyprus

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.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that the only way to resolve decades of dispute over Cyprus was to establish two states on the island, and a federation favored by Athens would not be on the agenda of upcoming talks.

In what is seen as a major diplomatic game unfolding in the Eastern Mediterranean, the fate of the Cyprus issue remains at the forefront.

An important step is the informal five-day meeting on the Cyprus issue that will take place in early March. It remains unclear if the 62nd round of exploratory contacts between Greece and Turkey will take place before this meeting.

A solution for the Cyprus dispute based on a federation system is not realistic for the island anymore, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said, reiterating their will for a two-state solution.

In view of the upcoming informal summit on the Cyprus issue and recent strategic agreements, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will visit Nicosia and Jerusalem in rapid succession on Monday.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called for flexibility ahead of a fresh bid by the United Nations to heal the decades-old division of Cyprus, a dispute harming ties between Turkey and Greece and energy projects in the eastern Mediterranean.

Ahead of the informal five-party conference on the Cyprus issue early next month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stressed Tuesday that the most important issue is the way in which the island's natural resources are shared, unveiling Ankara's ultimate goals in the region.

The Turkish foreign minister on Jan. 3 spoke with his British counterpart over the phone, according to diplomatic sources.

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Dominic Raab addressed bilateral relations and the Cyprus issue said diplomatic sources speaking on the condition of anonymity.

As we move toward an informal five-party conference on the Cyprus issue in New York, several questions arise. The first is whether the necessary preparation has been made and the right conditions have been created for the United Nations initiative to succeed. The answer is probably "no." 

With the informal five-party conference on the Cyprus issue under the auspices of the United Nations scheduled for early March, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to visit Nicosia during the coming period for consultations with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.