President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, expressed his support to a settlement of the Cyprus problem, without the presence of Turkish troops on the island, and to Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades’ efforts to solve  the problem.

In particular, responding to a question, during a press conference in Brussels, Tajani said that he supports efforts made by President Anastasiades, noting that “we want and need to find a solution” to the Cyprus problem but without the presence of Turkish military forces in the northern part of the island.

“During my visit to Cyprus, I said: we need to work for an agreement between the two, with the Cyprus north, but without the presence of the Turkish army in these parts of the island. I support the work of President Anastasiades and I pushed in favour of an agreement, but as I said, without the Turkish army in Cyprus. This problem is also on the content of the agreement between Cyprus and north Cyprus”, Tajani said.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Repeated UN-led peace talks have yet to lead to a political settlement. The latest such effort in July this year ended inconclusively.