Erdogan says he won’t let a peace deal hurt Turkish Cypriots

NICOSIA, Cyprus – Turkey’s president says he thinks the mindset of Greek Cypriots remains unchanged from when the latest effort to reunify ethnically divided Cyprus collapsed a year ago.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in Cyprus on Tuesday to meet with the leader of the island nation’s breakaway Turkish side, Mustafa Akinci.

Erdogan said Turkey won’t allow Turkish Cypriots to become victims of failed attempts at a peace deal or to be reduced to a minority in a Greek Cypriot-dominated state.

He says he thinks Greek Cypriots still think of themselves as the island’s sole owners.

Erdogan said Turkish Cypriots won’t participate in another open-ended peace process and he plans to explain that to a United Nations official who will visit Cyprus later this month to scope out chances for restarting reunification negotiations.