It is not right for the city of Varosia to be closed, it must be opened, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu told CNNTurk, arguing that "it does not make sense to wait for the Cyprus issue to be resolved in order for the Varosia issue to be resolved."
The Turkish Foreign Minister said that they support the initiative of the pseudo-state for opening the closed city of Famagusta.
For the Eastern Mediterranean, he argued that the Turkish side is constructive and that the Greek Cypriot side has a bad attitude due to the fact that it is a member of the EU and is the only one recognized and has the support of some countries. He said the Greek side had understood that it could not continue in the eastern Mediterranean, but said that Ankara was waiting to see if the Greek side would take steps to share gas in the near future.
"They have to see that there is no other choice," he said.
In an interview on a special channel of the Turkish channel that he gave to journalist Cüneyt νzdemir a few days ago and was broadcast today, the Turkish Foreign Minister said that he went to the closed city of Varosia. "It has been closed for years. In the negotiations so far, it has been discussed whether Varosia will be given to the Greek side or not. In other words, it has always been on the agenda as part of the negotiations ", he said, saying that within the closed city of Varosia, the properties of legal institutions, legal entities and real persons have properties.
He said that "now the 'tdbk' has launched an initiative so that these properties can be used, we support that". He added that he went with the "subordinate" Kudret Ozersay and they were informed. "The closed city of Varos is really a nice place. It is not right to keep it closed, it must be opened. The negotiations in Crans Montana did not lead us to a result and there is no guarantee that they will lead us to a result in the future either, so we believe that it does not make sense to wait for the Cyprus issue to be resolved for the Varos issue to be resolved. And we support this 'tdbk' initiative. Now they are doing a log job. "Who owns the property and what exists, they also informed us," he said.
Asked if Turkey was left alone in the eastern Mediterranean, the Turkish Foreign Minister said "no, Turkey is not alone, even if Turkey is left alone it will not back down from its just cause". "The steps we are taking are steps within the framework of international law," he said, adding that in the eastern Mediterranean everyone is and the interest of regional actors is growing.
Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu said that the first element is Turkey's drilling activities within its continental shelf, arguing that the Turkish Fatih drilling rig is currently drilling on the Turkish continental shelf and that they are not discussing the issue with anyone.
The second element is the rights of the Turkish Cypriots in the region, said the Turkish Foreign Minister, stating that "despite our warnings to date on the Greek Cypriot side, the EU, Greece and the other guarantor power, Britain, do not guarantee the rights of the 'T / k people' and we started our drilling works in the areas where the 'tvdk' licensed Turkey and in that area our drilling rig Yavuz continues its activities ".
"France has no right to speak there," he said, adding that French President Macron could make statements here and there but receive a response from Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. However, he said Britain was referring to "disputed areas" in its statements and that the United States was making more balanced statements than France. "However, these are not made with statements. What needs to be done is one. A mechanism either by the EU or the United Nations or by a joint venture to guarantee the rights of the Turkish Cypriots and end this crisis in this way. This is our concern ", said Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu, claiming that" the Turkish side is constructive, but the Greek Cypriot with its ill-mannered behavior due to the fact that it is a member of the EU and is the only one recognized and has the support of some countries he wants to continue. "
"However, they saw that this could not be done," said the Turkish Foreign Minister, and the journalist asked him if they had seen it to a significant degree. "In my opinion, they saw it to a significant degree, but we will see in the near future whether they will take a step in this issue or not. They need to take a step towards sharing. "They have to see that there is no other choice," he replied.
Asked about the effort to create accomplishments with the presence of the United States, France, Greece and Israel, the Turkish Foreign Minister said that "these are political maneuvers. Any agreement in which Turkey does not participate is not valid. This is clean. Secondly, we see these political maneuvers. "The only possible way to transport these hydrocarbons to the international market is through Turkey."