àeuropeanaffairs

The EU is continuing to demand the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the island and the end to Turkey’s guarantor state status.
Any agreement reached under these conditions will be the end of the gains of the TRNC, as well as the end of the Turkish Cypriots, and will pose a serious threat to Turkey’s existence and security in the Mediterranean. The thesis that the Turkish side has been defending all along has been the solution based on “bi-zonal and bi-communal” equality with two democracies.  European countries behind them have never accepted this solution. At each negotiation phase, they have asked for and insisted on more territory, the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the island and the acceptance that Turkey is not a guarantor state. The two major obstacles standing in the way of the Greek Cyprus Administration to abolish the TRNC and extend sovereignty over the Turkish Cypriots is Turkey’s guarantor state status and the presence of Turkish troops on the island.  It is not realistic for the Greek side to think that they could easily remove these assurances that are vitally important for the Turkish Cypriots.