Underlining that the Greek side still perceives Cyprus as a Greek island, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar on Sunday urged the international community to take action for changing the status quo on the island to guarantee the rights of the Turkish Cypriots.
Tatar once again underlined the TRNC's stance to back a two-state solution and described the federal solution as a dangerous road.
"The Greeks still see the island as a Greek island, like Rhodes and Crete, with Cyprus being the last stronghold as a Greek island," he said.
Tatar underlined that the whole world saw how the Greeks were oppressive and added that the Greek side gives different messages inside and outside.
"They are giving speeches that state Cyprus is Greek and will be Greek," he told.
Addressing reporters before leaving Turkey's Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya, Tatar also urged the international community to take action to change the status quo in Cyprus to guarantee the rights of the island's Turkish Cypriots, as he said: "The equal international status and sovereign equality of the Turkish Cypriots must absolutely be recognized for a change in the current status quo."
"When you explain the realities of Cyprus, it is certain that the state parties will sympathize with the position of the Turkish Cypriots at the current stage. But sympathy is no longer enough. We expect action," he added.
Tatar said that during the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, he had the opportunity to explain to the heads of state and foreign ministers of countries details of the Cyprus issue, the position of Turkish Cypriots and the new policy put forward by the Turkish side at informal talks held in Geneva in April.
Turkish Cypriots are in favor of "the new policy," a two-state solution, on Cyprus as decades of negotiations for a federation failed to resolve the Cyprus issue, Tatar told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Saturday on the sidelines of the weekend's forum in Turkey.
The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong struggle between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
The island has been divided since 1964, when ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power. The TRNC was founded in 1983.
The Greek Cypriot administration, backed by Greece, became a member of the European Union in 2004, although in a referendum that year most Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N. settlement plan, which envisaged a reunited Cyprus joining the EU.
The three-day Antalya Diplomacy Forum hosted 10 heads of state and government, 42 foreign ministers, three former heads of state and government, and more than 50 representatives of international organizations and former government officials, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
Debates of global importance were analyzed in-depth during the forum, including the Balkans, the future of Europe, trans-Atlantic relations, refugees and migrants, and the threat of terrorism.
