Egypt Calls for Federation in Cyprus, Rejecting Turkish-backed 2-State Solution

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Tuesday said a solution to the dispute in ethnically divided Cyprus must follow the UN-endorsed road map for reunification of the island in a federal framework, and be based on international law rather than promoting “aggressive activities or expansionist tendencies.” His remarks, seen as a direct rejection of Turkey’s call for a two-state solution to the dispute, came after he held talks with his Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulides. The Cypriot foreign minister said that during the meeting, he expressed his “deep concern regarding Turkey’s increasingly revisionist and destabilizing foreign policy” in the region. Turkey invaded the island nation in 1974, following a coup, and carved out a Turkish Cypriot state, unrecognized by other countries, in the island’s north, where 35,000 Turkish troops are stationed. Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar has conditioned the revival of peace talks, which collapsed in the summer of 2017, on recognition of the Turkish Cypriot state.