Turkey’s Gul reaffirms support for Turkish Cypriots

Turkey’s new president, Abdullah Gul, has reaffirmed Ankara’s support for Turkish Cypriots on his first foreign trip since becoming head of state last month.

Only Turkey recognises the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The rest of the world recognises the Greek Cypriot state in the south, which represents the whole island in the European Union that Ankara also aims to join.

After being welcomed by his Turkish Cypriot counterpart, Mehmet Ali Talat, Gul said both “our citizens and foreign investors have a strong belief in the future of Turkish Cyprus.”

But his sentiments were not shared by the Cypriot foreign ministry which condemned his visit saying it showed contempt of an EU member state.

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