Cyprus's president sees parallel between Turkish and Russian 'revisionism'

Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiadis spoke to FRANCE 24 from the capital Nicosia, Europe's last divided city. Cyprus has been split into two since 1974, following the Turkish army's invasion of the northern part of the island. After 48 years of negotiations, progress on reunification appears to have stalled.

Anastasiadis said that Russia’s invasion in Ukraine uses the "exact same arguments that Turkey used to invade Cyprus" in 1974. He drew a parallel with "similar actions of certain countries" which "seek, through revisionism, to overturn either geographical or historical data records".

The Cypriot president pleaded for a "bizonal, bi-communal federation" in Cyprus, an option refused by Ankara, which claims that Cyprus "remains under Turkey’s guarantee regime".

Asked about Turkey coveting a share of the hydrocarbons found on the Cypriot seabed, Anastasiadis said he was ready to share the resources by appealing to the International Court of Justice in The Hague or through arbitration, based on the International Law of the Sea, to find the dividing line between the two countries' exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Cypriot president said he hoped that Turkey "will not attempt to do anything that will cause conflagration and risk peace in the region."

Finally, with Cyprus suspected of issuing golden visas to oligarchs on the list of 1,300 Russians sanctioned by Brussels, Anastasiadis claimed that only eight of them hold Cypriot nationality, and added that instructions were given for this to be revoked, in "compliance with the common EU line".

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