The Speaker of the Republic’s Assembly Zorlu Töre has said that the Cyprus issue was not a issue of occupation, but of sovereignty.

“Despite the fact the Turkish Cypriot people’s right to self-determination and their equal political status with the Greek Cypriot side has been accepted, the Turkish Cypriot side continues to be subjected to discrimination and the Greek side is considered as the only legal representative of the island. Therefore, if there is an occupation and occupier in Cyprus, it is the Greek side,” Töre said on Tuesday.

The Speaker of Parliament Zorlu Töre, condemned the Speaker of the Greek Cypriot House of Representatives Annita Dimitriou, for her rhetoric targeting the Republic of Türkiye.

Pointing out that the statements of the Speaker of the Greek Cypriot House of Representatives were the clearest indication as to why there is a problem called the Cyprus issue, Töre said “the mentality of portraying the Cyprus issue as the so-called ‘invasion of Türkiye’ reveals how right and legitimate our two-state solution policy is.”

Stressing that the Cyprus issue was not a problem of occupation, but one concerning sovereignty, he said “despite the fact the Turkish Cypriot people’s right to self-determination and equal political status has been accepted, the Turkish Cypriot side is still being discriminated against and the Greek Cypriot side is accepted as the sole legal representative of the island. Therefore, if there is an occupation or occupier to speak of it is the Greek side.”

The Greek Cypriot speaker also pointed out that the activities of motherland Türkiye in the so-called Exclusive Economic Zone were based on the principle of reciprocity, against the unilateral activities of the Greek Cypriots.

“The steps taken by Türkiye in cooperation with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) are aimed at protecting the acquired and inherent rights of the Turkish Cypriots. Similarly, our initiative concerning the fenced-off town of Maraş is one launched within the borders of our sovereign state and is being implemented in accordance with international law. Therefore, attempting to portray Türkiye and the Turkish Armed Forces as “occupiers” and the TRNC as a ‘pseudo state’ is far from the realities on the ground and hurts efforts to reach a reconciliation between the two sides,” he said.

Töre also said that the TRNC will continue on its own path until the international community will one day recognise the sovereign equality of the Turkish Cypriot people.