President Dervis Eroglu has reacted to the Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias’s latest statements that the Cyprus Turkish people had rights over natural gas to be discovered off the coast of Cyprus. He said that the Greek Cypriot leader’s words were nothing more than empty promises and nonsense.

Commenting on the issue to Bayrak Haber on Friday, President Dervis Eroglu said that Cyprus’s natural resources belonged to both sides on the island and that it was necessary to determine, through the mutual consent of both sides, how to share such resources.

Eroglu reminded that both he and the Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias had promised the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon that they would concentrate their efforts to the Cyprus negotiations process.

“Instead Christofias has been creating diversions with the natural gas issue as well as other issues, leading the Greek Cypriot community away from a solution instead of preparing them” he added.

Expressing his view that the guaranteed full EU membership to the Greek Cypriot Side in 2004 was an important factor which contributed to the Greek Cypriot community’s rejection of a solution, the President said “The same thing will happen again if the Greek Cypriot Side is allowed to exploit this wealth. It would be naive to think that the Greek Cypriot Side would exercise flexibility after such developments take place”.