‘Turkey free to participate in regional cooperation if it obeys international law’

If Turkey wishes to participate in regional cooperation, it should respect international law and resolve the Cyprus problem, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Sunday.

He was commenting after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had made statements about alliances in the Eastern Mediterranean surrounding Turkey.

Christodoulides said Cyprus and all the states in the region are working on the basis of a positive approach, without excluding anyone who respects international law.

“So if Mr Fidan wants his country to participate in this work, all he has to do is to respect international law and in this context to proceed with the solution of the Cyprus problem,” Christodoulides said, adding that “Turkey excludes itself through its daily behaviour.”

At the opening of a health centre in Akaki, Christodoulides was also asked if would ask for a meeting with the new Turkish Cypriot leader after October 19 elections in the north. “With whoever is elected on the same night I will ask for a meeting,” he said.

In an interview with Turkish TV channel TRT, Hakan Fidan claimed that alliances are being formed in the Eastern Mediterranean with the aim of encircling his country.

Ankara, he said, is monitoring these moves and developing diplomatic tools to deal with them. He warned, however, that if diplomatic means do not work, the issue will pass to the army and security forces.

“The visible encirclement areas are areas of alliances that have been created at the expense of Turkey,” he said.