By Furkan Naci Top
ISTANBUL
Former U.K. foreign secretary said that Cyprus' natural resources should be shared equally.
Jack Straw spoke to The Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of the Britain Technology Summit in Istanbul on Thursday.
There should be an equal division of natural resources on and around the island, Straw said. There is currently a dispute between the Greek Cypriot admnistration and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus about the division of the island's oil and gas resources.
According to Straw, the EU's decision to make the Greek Cypriot administration a Member State had a "fundamental defect," as the EU accepted the Greek Cypriot administration as the only sovereign power on the island.
"It appeared to be a decision which said that the Greek Cypriot administration has sovereignty of the whole island. But in practice, they don't have," Straw explained.
He urges the international community to accept the island as divided.
"It would be better if there could be an agreement between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to divide the island. But, I don’t think that's going to happen," Straw predicted.
The former minister says the Greek Cypriot side would not give up the current status quo, since "they have the benefits of partition without any disadvantages."
Straw thinks the international community should recognize the island as divided, a move which would force the Greek Cypriot administration to "make the necessary compromises."
"The irony of this is that if partition were agreed, I think relations between north and south would improve, because there would be a new reality," he added.
Cyprus came close to an agreement when a poll was taken to decide on the so-called ‘Annan Plan,’ a UN proposal to resolve the dispute by restructuring the island as federation.
The Greek Cypriots said 'no' to the referendum, while most of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus citizens favored the plan.
Peace talks between the two sides began again last February. But the Greek Cypriot administration suspended the talks, when Turkey sent a ship to explore oil and gas resources around the island.
Turkish authorities say that both sides have rights to the offshore gas reserves around the island, while the Greek Cypriots have declared rights to what they call an "exclusive economic zone" in the waters off the south coast.
Straw said: "Everything I know about the talks suggests to me that ultimately Greek Cypriots will say 'no.'"
www.aa.com.tr/en
