Turkish FM reiterates Turkey's stance on Cyprus issue

Speaking Wednesday afternoon after returning from a meeting of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) foreign ministers in the Azeri capital Baku, Gul stated, "We expect the European Union to honor the promises it made to Turkish Cypriots."

According to Cihan News Agency, Gul said that Turkey knows its own responsibilities on the Cyprus issue but went on to say that it would be unfair to expect unilateral moves from the Turkish side.

At Tuesday's parliamentary group meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had also stressed that Turkey's ports and harbors would not be opened to Greek Cyprus traffic until sanctions against Turkish Cyprus were lifted.

Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines since 1974 when Turkey took control of the northern part of the island in response to a Greece-backed coup which aimed to unite the island with Greece.

Peace hopes for the divided Mediterranean island had vanished in 2004 when Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly voted against the Annan peace plan which was approved by the Turkish Cypriot side in a simultaneous referendum.

The southern Greek side of Cyprus joined the European Union as representative of the whole of the island on 1 May 2004. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, or TRNC, which is isolated internationally, is only recognized by Turkey. Neither Turkey nor the TRNC recognize the Greek Cypriot administration.

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