LEFKOSA - Turkish prime minister said on Sunday that a comprehensive solution could be found in Cyprus provided that such solution was based on the realities in the island.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended a ceremony held on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the "Peace and Freedom Operation" conducted in Cyprus in 1974.
Delivering a speech at the ceremony, Erdogan said, "nobody should expect Turkish Cypriots to step back from the idea of self-administration, equal status and equal partnership and to accept living as a minority group".
Erdogan said that a comprehensive solution could only be achieved with a new partnership in which Turkish Cypriot people and TRNC would participate equally and as a founder element.
"Such new partnership will be established on the principles of bizonal structure, political equality and Turkey`s effective status as guarantor state," he said.
Erdogan also said that the "Cyprus Peace Operation" prevented a massacre to be committed against Turkish Cypriots.
"It was a humanistic operation which had no intention other than bringing peace to the island. Everybody should perceive this reality and evaluate history from such perspective," Erdogan said.
"The peace operation, which was waged by Turkish Armed Forces depending on international law and agreements, brought freedom, confidence and prosperity to Turkish Cypriots," he also said.
(DO-BRC)
(DIP)