We strongly condemn the statement made on 14 August by Mr. Averof Neophytou, President of DISY, in which he states that there cannot be a settlement which does not include the return of Güzelyurt (Morphou). We are closely following such baseless statements which have increased in frequency recently, in which the Greek Cypriot side creates preconditions by putting forward elements which are unacceptable to the Turkish Cypriot side. Such statements do not serve any purpose other than to display the Greek Cypriot side’s unwillingness to reach a settlement.
We deem it necessary to emphasize that the Güzelyurt region is within the borders of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and thus undoubtedly belongs to the Turkish Cypriot side; that there is no question of its return or the cessation of its development; that much effort has been spent on developing this region along with many others in the North; and that the purpose of the negotiations is not to return land, but rather to negotiate territorial adjustment possibilities if deemed necessary. While the search for a just and viable settlement ensues, it is needless to say that such unreasonable demands made by alluding to specific names of locations is untimely. The Greek Cypriot side, however, has undertaken to interrupt the negotiation process by creating preconditions. We take this opportunity to reiterate our call on the Greek Cypriot side to abandon all behaviour which does not serve any positive purpose.
We have also observed with great shock the claim in the statement that, despite all of our calls and warnings, the Greek Cypriot side will not accept a settlement which envisages the continuation of the Turkish guarantee, constituting a repetition of previously-made Greek Cypriot statements. In this connection, we would like to remind that the guarantee of Motherland Turkey is not, as implied in the statement, a precondition which contradicts the desire to reach an agreement, but rather constitutes an element of security against the repetition of the victimizations which resulted from the Greek Cypriot attacks perpetuated in the past. We emphasize, once again, that the Turkish Cypriot people will not accept a settlement which does not include the effective and actual guarantee of Turkey.