THE TURKISH Cypriot leadership is claiming rights to the state gold locked away in the Cyprus Central Bank and earmarked for sale to meet the country’s financing needs.

According to Turkish Cypriot reports, the office of Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu issued a statement in response to recent considerations to sell most of the gold bought by the Cyprus Republic in the 1960s. The government confirms that a gold sale is one of the options being contemplated to raise €400 million as part of the Cyprus rescue package, though the final word rests with the Cyprus Central Bank.

The Turkish Cypriot statement notes that the Republic of Cyprus was established in 1960 as a common state between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and that all its resources, including the gold belongs to both communities on the island.

Any income or assets, including gold or hydrocarbon resources, that belong to the Turkish Cypriots cannot be sold without their consent, it added. The Turkish Cypriot side did not however offer to share any of the income it has accumulated through the free use of the property and assets in the northern third of the island, which also belongs to both communities.

Meanwhile, Bayrak television has reported that Eroglu will meet with President Nicos Anastasiades for their first meeting since the latter’s election on May 22 at a social gathering

Cyprus Mail