Issues of citizenship, residence of EU citizens, legal residence (legal domicite), the right to vote and be elected, the issue of freedoms and equal treatment of Turkish and Greek citizens, the two leaders discussed today, said Mustafa Akinci, along with points of difference, there are convergences and today points of agreement.
Returning to the occupied territories after today's meeting with the President of the Republic, the Turkish Cypriot leader said that in their meeting tomorrow with President Anastasiadis they will make an evaluation of the work they have done so far and determine the program they will follow.
Asked to comment on the statement of the Greek Prime Minister that a solution to the Cyprus problem with the stay of the Turkish army is not a solution, Mustafa Akinci replied that "after the solution there will not be so many Turkish army left. One of the results of the solution will be the gradual reduction of the Turkish army. Everyone knows that. There is no proposal for us to keep 40.000 soldiers here. We are only talking about the existence of a number of soldiers, which will be agreed ".
This number, he added, will arise in the context of the processes on issues of guarantees and security and we will reach it gradually on a specific date. If we look at it from this point of view, he said, this contributes to the solution, "but if you are talking about zero army, zero guarantees, zero security, then an agreement cannot be possible."
Mr. Akinci reiterated the importance for the Turkish Cypriot side not to eliminate the bizonality and the element of bi-communality, and in this sense - he said - the concept of legal residence is important, as it is an issue that concerns and local elections. "Today we confirmed an agreement that we had reached before in the negotiations. And this is the following: the right of legal residence will be recognized at 20%, the most in relation to the internal nationals of the C / C component state, to those who come from the other component state. So that the majority of T / C on this side is not endangered in any way ".
At the same time, he said, there is of course the right of residence that will not include any political rights, saying that this is an inevitable application in an EU member state. cottage, get an apartment if he wants to stay, work if he can find a job, go to the local administration to build a business and do it if he gets the permit. "All these possibilities will exist on both sides, but they will not contain political rights."
Mr. Akinci referred to the internal citizenship, the criteria for which, he said, are set by the constituent states, to the right of residence which does not include political rights, but - he said - the most important for the Turkish Cypriot side is the extent of legal residence. residence, which includes civil rights. "And in this matter there was already an agreement. Today we confirmed it. It will be a maximum of 20% ".
The Turkish Cypriot leader also referred to the issue of the federal police, saying that there were some gaps in what saw the light of day in the Greek Cypriot press. As he said, they did not disrupt the previous agreement for 5000 police officers of the e / k component of the state and 3100 of the t / c component of the state, which corresponds to a ratio of 60-40%. The Greek Cypriots, he said, claim that this applies to everything, while the Turkish Cypriot side argues that it should be 50-50%, explaining that an average solution has been found.
For the Turkish Cypriots, he added, the important thing is the units that will carry weapons and not the numerical equality of those who will be in the offices. They agreed, he said, on the units that will have the right to use weapons and the joint commission of inquiry to be half - half, as he characteristically stated. We accepted the 60-40 for those who will be in the offices, he noted, explaining that this ratio does not concern all the issues of the federal police.
Source: KYPE