President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos has stressed that the solution of the Cyprus problem must be based on the respect of the international law, the European law and the sovereignty of Cyprus, as an EU member state.

The Greek President, who held a meeting on Thursday with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is paying an official visit to Greece, told his interlocutor that Greece wants a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem.

“The solution should respect the international law, the European law and the sovereignty of an EU member state,” he stressed.

Referring to the Cyprus problem, the Turkish President said that Turkey and Greece are both guarantor powers of Cyprus and recalled the 2004 UN Annan plan that was rejected by the Greek Cypriots and approved by the Turkish Cypriots.  Erdogan claimed that the EU “did not fulfil its promises towards the Turkish Cypriots”, and concluded by saying that Turkey wants a just and viable settlement in Cyprus.

The Republic of Cyprus, an EU member state since 2004, has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. The latest round of UN-backed negotiations, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, ended inconclusively in July 2017.

Leave a Reply