President Ersin Tatar has said that there can only be official negotiations if the equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot side is recognized by the international community.

Speaking to CNN Türk on Sunday, Tatar said that it was important that the Turkish Cypriot side had equal status when sitting at the negotiating table.

Responding to a question regarding the weapons training given to clergy from the Greek Cypriot Orthodox Church by the Greek Cypriot National Guard, President Tatar reminded that the Greek Cypriot church had been actively working to unite the island with Greece since the 1880s.

“This was the case during the island’s British colonial rule. I expressed my strong reaction on this issue. The response I got was not from the Greek Cypriot administration but the priests. They said I was talking rubbish, they insulted me. But I believe it was good that their true face was revealed,” he said.

Reiterating his position in favour of a two-state solution, Tatar said that this was the only way to reach a settlement on the island.

“We want a settlement on the basis of equality. Even though the world does not recognize us, we have been strengthening our own administration and state for the past 60 years. We no longer desire a federal settlement or a solution that resembles a unitary state,” he said.

Tatar pointed out that it was necessary for the Turkish Cypriot side to have an equal say on the sharing of the island’s wealth or the airspace over the island.

“The Greek Cypriots want to lay claim over our rights in the Eastern Mediterranean. They want us to join the EU so that they can completely transform the island into a Greek state. This is why they want the scrapping of the system of guarantees,” he said.

Tatar also highlighted the importance of maintaining a dialogue with the Greek Cypriot side and said he had called out to the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades on numerous occasions.

“We should been in dialogue and this should continue. I’m not saying official negotiations. Official negotiations can only be possible if our international equal status is recognised. So far we have attended these talks as a community not as a state. This can no longer be the situation,” he said.