Turkey will demand repayment of the money it grants as aid to the TRNC, in the event of a solution to the Cyprus problem, Tugrul Turkes, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister responsible for Cypriot Affairs has said.
Speaking to Turkish daily ‘Milliyet’, he said that every year, Turkey subsidises the TRNC economy because it has been forced to exist in isolation.
“If you perceive this as ‘Turkey is giving economic support to the Turkish Cypriot community there’, you perceive it wrongly. There is an unjust isolation there. The young people cannot even play a football match. We are implementing a temporary subsidy against this unjust isolation. Besides, in case there is an agreement, we will of course demand this [money back]”, Turkes said.
Referring to the Cyprus negotiations, Turkes claimed that while Turkey as a guarantor power does not interfere in the negotiations in any way whatsoever, the Greek Cypriot side said [in Switzerland] ‘let me ask Greece and the political parties’ and ended the negotiations.
He argued that the West had stepped into in the process for a Cyprus settlement because of energy and “other reasons” and had forced the Greek Cypriot side to return to the negotiating table.
Milliyet