The federal model for a solution to the Cyprus problem has “completely lost its validity”, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
Erdogan was the third speaker at the event and said there are “two separate states and two separate peoples on the island” of Cyprus, and that “the acquired rights of the Turkish Cypriots, namely sovereign equality and their equal international status, must be re-committed, and their isolation must end.”
Then, for the second year running, he called on the UN’s member states to recognise the north as an independent country.
“Today, I call on you, the international community, once again, to recognise the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and establish diplomatic, political, and social relations with it,” he said.
He said “peace and tranquillity have prevailed” since Turkey invaded the island in 1974, and that in the intervening 50 years, “the parties which have demonstrated a sincere will to bring about a just, permanent and sustainable solution to the Cyprus problem have always been the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey.”
He also briefly spoke about Turkey’s maritime claims in the Eastern Mediterranean, saying the country’s “role” as “the country with the longest coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean” is “undeniable”.
“Turkey has rights in its declared continental shelf to the north and west of the island of Cyprus, while the Turkish Cypriots have rights around the entire island,” he said.
Erdogan is due to meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in separate meetings later on Tuesday evening.
President Nikos Christodoulides is set to address the general assembly on Wednesday, while Mitsotakis and Sir Keir Starmer, prime minister of Cyprus’ third guarantor power the United Kingdom, are both due to give their speeches on Friday.
