ANKARA, 18 Sep. Turkey considers the provisions of the Athens Declaration following the summit of the heads of state and government of southern Europe to be biased and short-sighted regarding the Cyprus settlement, said the official representative of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Tanju Bilgich. The EUMED 9 summit was attended by the heads of state and government of France, Greece, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Cyprus , Malta, Portugal and Slovenia. The declaration on its results confirmed the commitment to the settlement of the Cyprus problem on the basis of a bicommunal, bipolar federation with political equality in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council. It was emphasized that any proposal for a solution based on the coexistence of two states is unacceptable.
The President of Cyprus responded to accusations of racism by Turkish Cypriots “The joint statement of the nine EU members following the Athens summit is biased, short-sighted and out of touch with reality. solidarity and blindly following the course of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, «Bilgich said in a statement. Cyprus has been de facto divided between the Greek and Turkish communities since 1974 after Turkey's armed invasion, provoked by an attempt to annex the island to Greece. 37% of the island's territory was occupied, on which the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was proclaimed in 1983. Only Turkey recognized it. Negotiations between the Greek and Turkish communities on the reunification of Cyprus are being mediated by the UN. They were interrupted after the failure of another round, which took place in the Swiss town of Crans-Montana in 2017. The new leader of the Turkish Cypriots, Ersin Tatar, who was elected in the elections on October 18, 2020, is in favor of a confederal system of Cyprus, while the Greek Cypriots believe that that a solution to the Cyprus problem is possible only on the basis of UN decisions within the framework of a bipolar, bicommunal federation.
Russia is ready to facilitate dialogue between Cyprus and Turkey, Lavrov said
