CAIRO - Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said on Wednesday that Turkish and Greek Cypriots should be represented equally under the roof of the same state.
Maher told A.A correspondent that Egypt's attitude towards Cyprus was clear and said that Egypt favored reunification of Turkish and Greek Cypriot people.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Maher said that he was against division of countries and stressed that nations should intermingle and ethnic differences should not obstruct this intermingling.
Maher stated that efforts to find a solution to Cyprus issue should continue although simultaneous referenda failed in the island on April 24.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) ''recognized one state in Cyprus'', Maher said.
Maher recalled that Egypt had an ambassador in Cyprus and said that the embassy had relations with whole Cyprus, not only one group.
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Greek Cypriot side voted United Nations (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan's plan for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem in simultaneous referenda in Cyprus on April 24.
Sixty-five percent of Turkish Cypriots voted ''yes'' to the Annan plan while 35.09 percent voted against the plan in the simultaneous referenda. A total of 75.83 percent of the Greek Cypriots said ''no'' to the plan while 24.17 of them voted ''yes.''
The rate of participation in the referendum was 84.35 in TRNC and 96.53 percent in the Greek Cypriot side.
Thus, Annan plan was not put into practice in the island.
(BRC-AÖ) 02.06.2004