“The UK’s sincerity towards resolving Cyprus problem has become questionable”

The statement came following an announcement by the British High Commission that Prince Edward and his wife Sofie would be visiting South Cyprus.

“It has been our greatest wish and desire for the United Kingdom to treat both parties equally in Cyprus, to assist both parties and remain impartial,” the Office of the President said on Sunday.

It was reported in the press that the prince and his wife will be holding contacts at the British Bases and the UN Buffer Zone during the visit, as well as meet with the leader of the Greek Cypriot Administration Nicos Anastasiades.

The two are also scheduled to meet with “some Turkish Cypriots” whose names have not been announced.

“As soon as we learned about this, with the instruction of the TRNC President, a request was made to the British High Commissioner calling for Prince Edward to come and meet with the elected President of the Turkish Cypriot people President Ersin Tatar. In fact, a suggestion was made so that the meeting would be of a social nature and not an ‘official’ meeting,” the statement continued.

Emphasizing that the British Royal Family, apart from politics, was appreciated and loved by the whole world due to their humanitarian, charitable and tolerant stance the statement said, “while we expressed our desire for this synergy to have a positive impact on both sides, we noted that President Tatar and Prince Edward are graduates of Jesus College Cambridge and that we think that a social and informal meeting can be beneficial in this context”.

“Unfortunately, in the response we received, we clearly see with much regret that the United Kingdom has politicized such a visit, ignoring the Turkish Cypriot people and their elected President,” noted the statement.

While underlining that the Turkish Cypriot leadership will not accept any behaviour that ignores the equality of the Turkish Cypriot people, the statement noted that Prince Edward’s decision to only meet with the leader of the Greek Cypriot administration Nicos Anastasiades and to only come together  with ‘several Turkish Cypriots’ was unacceptable.

“The UK’s sincerity towards resolving the Cyprus problem has become questionable, we find it useful to reiterate our expectation that both parties will be treated equally and in accordance with the principle of impartiality,” the statement concluded.