Speaking to The Independent, TRNC Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu addressed the upcoming UN-led informal talks in Geneva, warning that negotiations will fail unless they reflect the realities on the ground.

He stressed that decades of failed federal talks prove that a new approach is needed – one that acknowledges the existence of two separate states on the island.

Ertuğruloğlu also criticised the international community’s continued recognition of the Greek Cypriot administration as the sole authority of Cyprus, despite its rejection of past peace efforts.