Akinci: Erdogan wanted him out to torpedo 2019 effort at comprehensive Cyprus settlement talks

Former Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci has said a November, 2019 agreement between himself and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades which provided for critical elements of a Cyprus settlement was the reason Ankara intervened to oust him from office by backing Ersin Tatar to replace him in October, 2020.

The agreement had been reached in talks in Berlin in the presence of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres

Akinci made the bombshell statement in an interview with the Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen. He said the agreement would have put settlement talks back on track.

Settlement talks timetable

Akinci said the Berlin agreement included a timetable for talks and the process would be different and focus on swift results.

The framework for the talks would have been a 30 June, 2017 document of Guterres which focused on political equality.

Anastasiades: Akinci’s revelation vindicates the Greek Cypriot side.

“Because the [Berlin] agreement provided for a rotating presidency, political equality, and a results-oriented approach, it satisfied those who really want a Cyprus settlement,” Akinci said.

“Had I been able to carry on with my duties I would have proceeded within the Berlin framework and that is one of the core reasons Ankara intervened in the election.”

“They [Ankara] wanted a result that would allow them to say that the Turkish Cypriots no longer want a federation and they exhausted all the power of a country of 80 million [Turkey] to undermine the will of the Turkish Cypriot people.”