Cyprus marks 50 years since the Turkish invasion of 1974 leading to partition

euronews (in English)

Turkish forces landed on Cyprus on 20 July and captured 3% of the island before the UN Security Council secured a ceasefire. The Turkish area was later widened to 36%.

Transcript

00:00This year marks 50 years since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. It was a period that opened

00:06a deep wound and defined the modern history of Cyprus.

00:10Today, an impasse persists in the peace talks to resolve the issue, despite decades of negotiations

00:17under the UN. However, over the last few months, there has been renewed movement to restart

00:22the talks.

00:24In January, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed a personal envoy to Cyprus.

00:30But, while the Greek-Cypriot side still sees bi-zonal, bi-communal federation as the only

00:36viable solution, Turkish-Cypriots want to discuss a two-state solution.

00:42Our goal is, at this stage, to reach as soon as possible the next steps.

00:51It is a fact that we are facing difficulties.

00:55The position of the Turkish side at the moment, which proposes the issues of sovereign equality

01:03and equal international status as prerequisites to accept a re-intervention in a process,

01:11is essentially an unspeakable obstacle, because it deviates from the framework determined

01:17by the UN resolutions.

01:20In addition to the historical compromise of the bi-communal federation, it is beyond

01:27the boundaries of a state that must be secured through the Cypriot solution.

01:33There is no room for deviation from this framework.

01:39But what do the citizens think about the situation 50 years after the invasion?

01:46I have the feeling that every time we discuss the Cypriot solution, we should not only

01:52focus on the solutions or the conditions under which it will be implemented,

01:57but also on whether we have co-operated as a Greek-Cypriot and as a Cypriot-Cypriot

02:01with the idea of a common, co-operative state,

02:04as Cypriot democracy began with its founding in 1960.

02:09I have the feeling that we have not yet co-operated with this idea of co-existence as a society,

02:15and that is why Cyprus remains separate from it.

02:20Nevertheless, there is an important part of society

02:23that supports the solution of bi-zonal, bi-communal federation.

02:27A few days ago, after meeting with all the actors,

02:30the special UN envoy submitted a report to the UN Secretary General.

02:34The content of this report has not yet been made public.

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