Acting President and Speaker of the Republic’s Assembly, Zorlu Töre, stressed that the Cyprus issue was resolved in 1974, and since 1983, there have been two sovereign, equal states on the island.

Töre added that the only solution in Cyprus was for the two sovereign states on the island to cooperate within the framework of good neighbourly relations.

Acting President and Speaker of the Republic’s Assembly, Zorlu Töre, responded to the remarks made by the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Greek Cypriot administration, Annita Demetriou, who stated, “The current situation in Cyprus cannot become our normal as an EU member.”

Töre stated that Demetriou’s words disregarded the Turkish Cypriot people’s struggle for existence and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is a significant outcome of that struggle.

“With this statement, the Greek Cypriot side has once again demonstrated how far they are from solving the problem they created in Cyprus,” Töre said and stressed that the Cyprus issue was resolved in 1974 and that since 1983, there have been two sovereign, equal states on the island.

The Parliamentary Speaker stated that the Greek Cypriot administration’s declaration under the guise of the so-called “Republic of Cyprus,” that “this situation cannot be our normal” within the European Union, to which it became a member alone, was not a step toward a solution but rather one that moves away from the grounds for a resolution.

Stressing that the Greek Cypriot administration did not have the authority or capacity to represent the Turkish Cypriots, he said, “The Turkish Cypriot people, whose rights have been usurped, who have been subjected to massacres, and forced to live under isolation since 1963, used their right to self-determination derived from the 1960 Agreements to establish the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to protect their existence, security, and freedom. They will never give up their state”

Inviting all relevant parties, including Demetriou, to acknowledge this reality, Töre reiterated that the only solution in Cyprus was for two sovereign states on the island to cooperate within the framework of good neighbourly relations.