NICOSIA -- “There is no possibility of success” for the negotiations between the Greek-Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades and his Turkish-Cypriot counterpart Mastafa Akinci about the reunification of the island within a single federal state, the Turkish-Cypriot foreign affairs minister Tashin Ertugruloglu told foreign journalists visiting Nicosia.

 The position of the Turkish-Cypriot foreign minister is clear -- he did not hesitate to dismantle the optimism expressed over the past few days not only by Akinci and Anastasiades, but also by the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, who said last week that an agreement had “almost been reached.”

 “I do not understand,” said Ertugruloglu in a meeting with foreign journalists, “why president Akinci is so hopeful. He is dreaming, but here we must discuss real politics.”

 It can be gathered from the Turkish minister’s words that the chasm between the progressive Turkish-Cypriot president and the right-wing government in line with Erdogan is deeper than previously imagined.

 Akinci and Anastasiades met up in Switzerland for the duration of last week, with the objective of reaching an agreement by the end of the year. So many controversial issues exist -- from the distribution of land, to the presence of Turkish troops.

 The two sides seemed very close to an understanding, Friday. Interviews were then suspended in order to give Anastasiades the possibility of informing the southern-Cypriot parliament -- the only state on the island recognized by the international community -- and were then picked up again Sunday. All sides recognize that there are two alternatives -- a two-state solution or a union with Turkey.

 “We and the president do not have the same vision. We want a fair deal, not dominated by Greek-Cypriots,” said Ertuguloglu to foreign journalists in Cyprus for the 33rd anniversary of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus -- recognized only by Turkey.

 The foreign minister also listed the reasons behind his government’s “no.” First of all, the risk of Turks in the north finding themselves belonging to part of a minority in a state dominated by Greek-Cypriots. Then the refusal to give land concessions in the south. “Up until now it has been us to renounce everything, to be left out of the EU. What else do they want us to give up?” asked Ertuguloglu.

 The minister also contested the possibility of applying EU law to the buying of properties, that would give Greeks the possibility of “expanding” into the Turkish side of the island, which already occupies a smaller territory.

 Then there is the question of the 30,000 Turkish soldiers sent to northern Cyprus in 1974, officially to avoid the annexation of Cyprus to a militarized Greece. The Greeks ask for their immediate withdrawal after the agreement, but the Turkish government is not willing to comply. “They want to chase them out because they are the only deterrent to Greek supremacy, but they must understand that the Turkish troops will always be there, even if in different numbers to today.”

 For Ertugruloglu there are alternatives to the federal state. “The federation is technically impossible. The next negotiations will be ‘state-to-state,’” he said. The alternative would therefore be the formation of two separate states, but it is difficult to imagine who would be ready to officially recognize the northern Republic.

 The same minister admitted that the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, who northern Cyprus counted upon for some time, had also “created more problems than anyone else, because the member countries are subjected to the US, the UK or Germany, all allied to south Cyprus,” member of the EU since 2004. “Let the EU stay out of the question, it is not neutral,” he said.

 The minister listed other options -- “an autonomous republic of Turkey, with foreign politics and defence entrusted to Ankara,” or a “Taiwanese model” or a “Kosovo model,” or even a total union with Turkey. “As a government, we still have not picked the best option,” he said, but then added that he personally preferred the two-state solution, and did not hide his consideration of himself and his fellow citizens first and foremost as Turks, rather than Turkish-Cypriots.

 “Turkey is our motherland. The flag of north Cyprus is the flag of a state, but the Turkish flag is our national one. Even our anthem is the Turkish one. I do not recognize the southern flag, even if for some time it was the common flag,” he added.

 In this process, for Ertugruloglu, the only thing that can be asked of Europe is for it to be a “non-player,” and to stay out of this business because “it is not neutral and can do nothing to help us because it is allied to Greece.” According to the minister, it is a question that should stay internally on the island.

 However, it has not been said that the government's wishes will be the ones to prevail. If Akinci reaches an agreement with Anastasiades, it will be the people, with a referendum, to approve or reject it. And the election of the ‘dove’ Akinci in 2015 is seen by many as a sign that Turkish-Cypriots want the agreement.”

 nkd