Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus says it will not hesitate to take steps countering unilateral pacts
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Tuesday slammed the signing of cooperation agreements between Greece, Greek Cypriot administration, and Jordan, particularly ones on energy, saying the pacts ignore Turkish Cypriots’ “essential rights.”
The Greek prime minister, Greek Cypriot leader, and Jordan’s king attended their first high-level trilateral summit in the Greek Cypriot administration on Tuesday, which included the signing of several agreements between the parties.
"The Greek Cypriot administration's signing of treaties together with Greece and Jordan on sectors like health, education, agriculture and mainly energy, in ignorance of Turkish Cypriots' essential rights on the island where they are joint owners of it, is unacceptable," the Turkish Cypriot Foreign Ministry said in a written statement.
The statement said one-sided steps by Greek Cypriots will not be respected and the TRNC will not hesitate to take counter steps.
"We would like to stress once more that we will rapidly continue consultations with Turkey about our future," it said.
The statement added that the TRNC will not at all be bound by the agreements signed today.
The eastern Mediterranean island has been divided since 1974 when a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by violence against the island's Turks and Ankara's intervention as a guarantor power.
Cyprus has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, with the latest initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece, and the U.K. collapsing last year.
Turkey blames Greek Cypriot intransigence for the talks’ failure, and the EU for admitting Cyprus as a divided island into the union in 2004, after the Greek Cypriot administration rejected a peace deal.
