Britain’s minister for Europe, Chris Bryant, said on Tuesday the UK could give up rights of military intervention on divided Cyprus to help seal a reunification agreement. Britain has already offered to give up part of its sovereign base area on the island to assist a possible deal.
Greece, Turkey and former colonial ruler Britain are guarantor powers of Cyprus’ independence agreement in 1960 -- giving them the right to intervene militarily if the terms of that agreement are threatened.
The guarantee system is the main barrier preventing the forcible expulsion of Turkish Cypriots from the island, thus is “vital” for the protection of Turkish Cypriots, Hasan Erçakıca, a spokesperson for the presidential office of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), told reporters on Wednesday when reminded of news reports about Britain.
“What is necessary for us is the continuation of Turkey’s security guarantees,” Erçakıca said, noting that the other two guarantor countries might be willing to give up their guarantee right due to circumstantial reasons. In July, when the Greek Cypriot side rejected any peace deal that would allow Turkey to maintain the right to intervene militarily as a condition of reunifying the ethnically divided island, Ankara made clear that it will not give up its right to intervene in Cyprus to protect the island’s Turkish population.
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