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In
a speech in the divided Cypriot capital of Nicosia, Erdogan
reiterated Turkey's position in a dispute that is damaging
Turkey's relations with the European Union and Greece.
Turkey is the only country to now recognise breakaway north
Cyprus. It says the only viable option to heal decades of
estrangement is for rival Greek Cypriots and the international
community to accept the existence of two sovereign entities.
Greek Cypriots, who represent the island internationally and are
backed by the EU, reject a two-state deal which would imply a
sovereign status to a breakaway state they view illegal.
"The new negotiation process can only be carried out between the
two states. We are right and we will defend our right to the
end," Erdogan said.
Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion on July 20, 1974, five
days after a Greek Cypriot coup engineered by the military junta
then ruling Greece.
Decked out in red-and-white Turkish and Turkish Cypriot flags,
the celebratory mood in north Nicosia stood in stark contrast
with the sombre mood in the south, where Greek Cypriots were
woken by air raid sirens marking the day Turkish forces landed
47 years ago.
The United Nations has grappled inconclusively with the Cyprus
conflict for decades.
The simmering dispute is now in sharper focus because of
competing claims over offshore energy reserves, and a recent
re-opening by Turkish Cypriots of part of Varosha, a ghost
resort which was the hub of Cyprus's tourism industry before the
war.
(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer, writing by Michele Kambas,
editing by Timothy Heritage)
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