Ertugruloglu Says President’s Policy Costs Turkish Cypriots Time And Status

Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu strongly criticized the policy pursued by President Tufan Erhürman on the Cyprus issue, saying it weakens the political position of Turkish Cypriots and leads them into dependence.

Ertugruloglu said that policies which portray Turkish Cypriots as weak and helpless and force them to seek acceptance from the Greek Cypriot side are unacceptable. He stated that such an approach reduces the community to a status of pleading at the door of the Greek Cyots and that this would never be allowed.

He criticized the President for alternating between the concepts of “equal sovereignty” and “political equality,” depending on circumstances. Ertugruloglu questioned what kind of negotiating table the President was referring to, asking under what status the Turkish Cypriot side would sit and what status the Greek Cypriot side would hold.

He argued that the Greek Cypriot administration continues to act internationally as the Republic of Cyprus while maintaining embargoes against Turkish Cypriots. In this context, he asked what would be gained by returning to negotiations under such conditions.

Ertugruloglu stressed that equal sovereignty means two states, not a single state based on political equality. He said that advocating political equality instead of equal sovereignty effectively targets the abolition of the Turkish Cypriot state structure.

He added that the President’s policy is not in line with the policy pursued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to Ertugruloglu, there can be no partnership with the Greek Cypriot side as long as Turkish Cypriot rights are not respected.

He stated that the Greek Cypriot side openly demands the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the island and the abolition of guarantees, even while discussing political equality. He argued that both sides are not trying to solve the same problem, noting that the Greek Cypriot side frames the issue as an “occupation problem.”

Referring to past negotiation efforts, Ertugruloglu said that years of federation talks had failed to produce results. He cited former leaders Mehmet Ali Talat and Mustafa Akıncı as examples of leaders who pursued conciliatory policies without success.

He concluded that repeating the same approach would not lead to a different outcome and that federation is no longer a viable option. Any future negotiations, he said, must be conducted strictly on a state-to-state basis.

Ertugruloglu underlined that the current policy of the Presidency is incompatible with the line followed by the Foreign Ministry and that his ministry does not support or associate itself with that approach.