BERLIN

The president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) said Wednesday that they want a two-state solution based on equality in resolving the Cyprus issue. 

Speaking at a meeting at the Turkish Embassy in Berlin, Ersin Tatar stressed sovereignty and noted that the Turkish Cypriots want to reach an agreement but on the basis of equality.

To sit at the negotiation table with the Greek Cypriots, isolation should be lifted, and direct flights and trade opportunities should be ensured, he stated.

Tatar went on to say that the right of athletes to participate in competitions and the right to meet with their counterparts should also be on the agenda.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

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 Türkiye, Greece and the UK.