The government is certain that the illegal Turkish Cypriot regime, in northern Turkish occupied Cyprus, cannot and will not be recognised as it is the outcome of expansion, violence and illegality.
Speaking on the 24th anniversary since the unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) by the Turkish Cypriots, Government Spokesman Vasilis Palmas also said that the absence of a political settlement in Cyprus would not lead the leadership to an unacceptable solution.
Condemning the UDI, which the UN has described as “legally invalidâ€, he stressed the government adherence to a bicommunal bizonal federal solution, indicating that the US federal system could be one such solution that would ensure the viability and the functionality of the state.
“The illegal UDI by the Turkish Cypriots is the culmination of a long series of illegal secessionist moves, condemned by all nations except Turkey, which has since the 1950 encouraged partition in Cyprus,†he said, in statements to the press at the House of Representatives.
He pointed out that the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus imposed and consolidated partition but has not legalised the illegal subordinate local administration to Turkey.
“This regime functions as Ankara’s protectorate, which maintains it; it is legally invalid and has no political foundation. No power on earth can legalise Turkey’s theft and occupation of our territory. Nobody can ever recognize the product of expansion, violence and illegality as a legal state, unless we allow that to happen,†he stressed.
Responding to questions, he said that intensive efforts are underway by some members of the international community to upgrade the status of the regime but not to give it international recognition however.
The government, he went on to add, is fighting a continuous battle to avert such moves and to convince that the so-called isolation of the Turkish Cypriots will cease to exist once there is a political settlement.
“It is true that the lapse of time without a solution creates difficulties and complexities but this situation is not a pressure lever on us to close the question of Cyprus,†he said.
Palmas reiterated the government objective to achieve a bizonal bicommunal federal solution, in line with a decision by the National Council, the top advisory body to the President on the handling of the Cyprus issue.
“If we had a proposed federal solution, similar to the US system, would we say that it does not secure the viability and functionality of the state? If however we had a solution, similar to the Anna plan, then we shall certainly say no to it,†he concluded.
The Annan plan, a UN proposed solution, was turned down by the overwhelming majority of the Greek Cypriots and approved by the Turkish Cypriots. Greek Cypriots considered it imbalanced and unfair, saying it would not lead to the reunification of the country.
