Turkey favours fair, permanent, sustainable solution on Cyprus: Erdogan

Turkey is in favour of a fair, permanent, sustainable solution on Cyprus, Turkey’s president has said.

“The efforts of the Turkish side alone are not enough for a solution, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on Monday after meeting with Ersin Tatar, the newly elected president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

He added, “It is obvious that the Greek side has no intention of accepting a solution on the basis of the equal partnership of the Turkish Cypriot people.”

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The reason for the current situation in the eastern Mediterranean is the Greek/Greek Cypriot duo, who have not heeded Turkey’s warnings since 2003 and have ignored its constructive suggestions, said Erdogan.

Erdogan said that he will pay a visit to Northern Cyprus on November 15.

Last Friday Tatar was sworn in as the country’s president.

For his part, Tatar hailed Turkey’s proposal for a five-party conference on the Cyprus issue, calling it the “last chance for an agreement.”

The island of Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by violence against the island's Turks and Ankara's intervention as a guarantor power.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece, and the UK.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was founded in 1983.