Turkey Insists on Two-State Solution for Divided Cyprus as UN Plans to Restart Peace Talks

Nicosia: Turkey reiterated its stance on a two-state peace agreement in Cyprus on Wednesday, as the United Nations prepares to meet with all parties in early spring to explore restarting formal talks. The goal is to resolve one of the world's longest-standing conflicts.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that Cyprus "must continue on the path of a two-state solution," emphasizing that any efforts toward other arrangements to end the island's decades-long division would be "a waste of time." He made these remarks after talks with Ersin Tatar, the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots.

Cyprus' ethnic division dates back to 1974 when Turkey invaded the island following a coup backed by the Greek junta, which aimed to unite Cyprus with Greece.

The most recent major push for a peace deal collapsed in 2017.

Turkey has advocated for a two-state arrangement in which the numerically fewer Turkish Cypriots would never be the minority in any power-sharing arrangement.

But Greek Cypriots do not support a two-state deal that they see as formalising the island's partition and perpetuating what they see as a threat of a permanent Turkish military presence on the island.

Greek Cypriot officials have maintained that the 2017 talks collapsed primarily on Turkey's insistence on permanently keeping at least some of its estimated 35,000 troops currently in the island's breakaway north, and on enshrining military intervention rights in any new peace deal.

The UN, the European Union, and others have rejected a two-state deal for Cyprus, saying the only way forward is a federation agreement with Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot zones.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is preparing to host an informal meeting in Switzerland in March. The island's Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides says he's ready to resume formal talks immediately but has ruled out any discussion on a two-state arrangement.

Tatar, leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, said the meeting will bring together the two sides in Cyprus, the foreign ministers of “guarantor powers” Greece and Turkey and a senior British official to chart “the next steps” regarding Cyprus' future.

(with agency inputs)