Turkey occupies 73% of Cyprus: presidential commissioner

CAIRO - 15 December 2019: Presidential Commissioner for Humanitarian Issues and Overseas Cypriots Fotis Fotiou said on Sunday that 73 percent of Cyprus is occupied by Turkey stressing the importance of respecting the sovereignty of each state and international law regardless of the size of military power it possesses.

The Cypriot commissioner’s statements came during his participation in the ‘Fostering Mediterranean Regional Cooperation in Addressing Common Challenges’ session held within the agenda of the third edition of the World Youth Forum (WYF 2019) taking place in South Sinai’s capital Sharm El Sheikh.

The MoUs signed by Turkey and the Government of National Accord in Libya are a breach of international law and maritime laws as the former would get access to the economic zone in the Mediterranean exclusively, the Cypriot official asserted. “The tripartite partnership with Egypt and Greece since 2014 has been a success, particularly when it comes to energy and counterterrorism,” the Cypriot presidential commissioner for humanitarian issues stated.

Fotiou added that his country was the first to raise the matter of illegal migration and refugees stressing that the causes of the phenomenon must be remedied. “The numbers [of refugees] are large compared to our resources,” the official underlined.

The opening ceremony of WYF 2019 took place on Saturday evening, while the closing will be Tuesday. The number of participants is 7,000, who were admitted out of 300,000 applicants.

On December 12-13, parallel workshops were held for participants to exchange views on the topics that would later be discussed by panelists on Sunday and Monday. The 16 panel discussions consist of seven sessions on technology, three sessions on the Mediterranean, two sessions on Africa, one session on women, one session on climate change, one session on peace and security, and one session on arts. The closing of WYF 2019 will be Tuesday evening.