Kurtulmuş answers Greek Cypriot speaker in Rome: No solution without the Turkish side

Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş responded to Greek Cypriot House Speaker Annita Demetriou’s remarks on Cyprus at the Conference of Speakers of European Parliaments in Rome, saying Turkish Cypriots “will continue to live on the island as equal citizens until the end of time.”

Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, speaking at the Conference of Speakers of European Parliaments hosted by the Italian Chamber of Deputies in Rome, responded to remarks on Türkiye’s Cyprus policy by Annita Demetriou, speaker of the Greek Cypriot House of Representatives, who took the floor after him. Kurtulmuş said her statements did not reflect the realities on the island.

“In Cyprus, both Greeks and Turks are two peoples who have existed throughout history. There can be no solution in Cyprus by ignoring the Turkish side. Until the end of time, the Turkish Cypriot people will continue to live on the island of Cyprus as equal citizens,” Kurtulmuş said.

Recalling 1960, 1963 and 1974

Kurtulmuş said three dates must be considered to understand the issue. He recalled that a partnership state was established in 1960 in which Turks and Greeks lived together, with Britain, Türkiye and Greece as guarantors, and said the joint government accepted by both sides was dismantled in 1963 by the junta in Greece and pro-Enosis forces. He stressed that this was not an invasion by the Turkish side but a coup against a legitimate government.

Kurtulmuş said Türkiye spent the next 11 years taking the issue to international meetings in search of a peaceful solution, while Turkish Cypriots were subjected to massacres during that period, and that Türkiye carried out the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation out of the responsibility arising from its guarantor rights. After the operation, the two communities lived on the island in peace, he said.

Palazzo Montecitorio, seat of the Italian Chamber of Deputies (file photo)

The conference agenda

The conference, held Oct. 14-16 at the Italian Chamber of Deputies in Rome, featured sessions on “Resilient Democracies,” “Artificial Intelligence and the Labor Market” and “Renewing the Rules-Based International Order.” As part of his Rome program, Kurtulmuş also met the speaker of North Macedonia’s parliament.

Kurtulmuş answers Greek Cypriot speaker in Rome: No solution without the Turkish side