Ertuğruloğlu: The President May Say He Is Not Selling False Hope, But He Is Responsible For This Chaos

Ertuğruloğlu stated that the guarantees of Turkey are “non-negotiable” and a “red line” for the Turkish Cypriot people, stressing that the future lies not in a Greek Cypriot partnership model but in “two sovereign, equal states based on good neighbourly relations.”

In a written statement, Ertuğruloğlu said:

“We are following with concern the Greek Cypriot side’s attempt to repeatedly bring back clearly unfounded scenarios as part of a perception operation. Unfortunately, within our own community there are also those who believe these baseless scenarios and even seek to take part in this game.

According to these scenarios, a so-called ‘new formula’ has emerged. These claims are in fact an open admission that the President Tufan Erhürman’s four-stage formula, which has no credibility in our eyes or in the public eye, has failed to produce any result.

The President speaks of the Turkish Cypriot people’s will for a solution, and he is right to do so, but he avoids clarifying which problem is to be solved. Our problem or the Greek Cypriot problem? This is the key point, because our problem is the Greek Cypriots’ solution, and their problem is our solution. One cannot simply speak of a ‘solution’ and move on.

The details of these empty scenarios are as follows: the so-called territorial concession proposal suggests that the Turkish Cypriot side would give up land in exchange for partial recognition. It must be understood that if such lands are handed over in violation of our constitution, there would be no homeland left to recognise. And what does ‘partial recognition’ even mean? Is this what the President’s expectation of ‘not returning to the status quo’ refers to? He may be satisfied with it, but we are not.

Another critical issue is guarantees. According to these scenarios, Turkey’s effective and active guarantee would be removed and replaced with a NATO guarantee. The emptiness and ineffectiveness of such a so-called guarantee is being deliberately concealed. The guarantees of the United Kingdom and Greece are their own concern; Turkey’s guarantee is indispensable and a red line for the Turkish Cypriot people.

The only truth agreed upon in the 5+1 meetings held in 2021 and twice in 2025 is that there is no common ground for negotiations. Despite this reality, why is this process being revived today?

Even though the President says he is not selling false hope, he is responsible for this chaos.

We are compelled to ask again:

1. Has the Greek Cypriot side abandoned its claim to be the so-called ‘Republic of Cyprus’ and the island’s sole legitimate government?
2. Have the inhumane embargoes and isolations imposed on Turkish Cypriots been lifted?
3. Has the Greek Cypriot administration been forced to recognise the sovereign equality and equal international status of the TRNC?
4. Has the distorted narrative of ‘Turkish invasion and occupation’ been abandoned?
5. Has the UN Security Council corrected Resolution 186, which entrenches injustice?

More questions could be added, but these are sufficient.

Are we to assume that the Annan Plan is being attempted again today? All indicators point in that direction.

The Turkish Cypriot people have no path other than standing firmly behind their state, sovereignty, and Motherland. Any other path leads first to disappointment and ultimately to extinction.

The future lies not in a partnership with the Greek Cypriot side, but in two sovereign and equal states based on good neighbourly relations. This is the only real solution to the Cyprus problem.

Those who do not see, do not want to see; do not hear, do not want to hear; and do not say, do not want to say—there is no path forward with this ‘utopian president.’”