Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu also strongly reacted to the British High Commissioner to South Cyprus’ Irfan Siddiq’s remarks on Tuesday.

He said Siddiq “exceeded both diplomatic and etiquette boundaries by interfering in the internal affairs of the TRNC.”

“Siddiq, with his words, acts like a Greek Cypriot and an Elam member. Being of Pakistani origin, instead of following a balanced policy, he is trying to please the Greek Cypriot side… He is acting more like a Greek Cypriot than a Greek Cypriot. He should be sacked,” he said.

The TRNC foreign minister rejected any return to the federation model and asserted that the TRNC is a “reality” independent of Siddiq’s approval and will be recognized by other countries.

He accused Siddiq of attempting to incite the public, saying: “There is no return to the federation model; we have closed that chapter. You insult the Turkish Cypriot people who resist treating the Greek Cypriots as ‘the Republic of Cyprus.’ This impertinence is devoid of diplomatic courtesy.”

He also picked up on a point in the interview in which Siddiq had said “The real issue is closing the gap between the two sides.”

Ertuğruloğlu asked, “So, who was it who created this gap, Mr Siddiq? Was it not the British? Are there not five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council? Are you not the ones who created this rift between the two sides with Resolution 186?”

UN Security Council Resolution 186, passed in 1964, acted as an effective codification that, devoid of their constitutionally mandated Turkish Cypriot representation, the state institutions in Cyprus would continue to be recognised as the legitimate government of the Republic of Cyprus.

Ertuğruloğlu had said Siddiq “insults and attacks our sovereignty, all our rights and interests, our country, our flag.”

He added, “It is unacceptable for the ambassador of a country, which is the main architect of the emergence of many of the conflicts which are still unresolved and have caused bloodshed, to question the Treaty of Guarantee.”

“It is clear that Siddiq supports the Greek Cypriot side’s position on Cyprus to preserve the status of the British bases in the Greek Cypriot administration,” he said.

Siddiq had said in an interview with a newspaper that “the Turkish Cypriot leadership needs to be very clear. What do they want? If their position is ‘sovereign equality and equal international status,’ that cannot be granted. Then what will you offer to your people? Recognition of the TRNC? That’s not likely either. You will not be able to get two states accepted.”