Fidan discusses Turkish Cypriot road project with French FM

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed regional developments, including the Black Sea Grain Initiative and Pile-Yiğitler Road project in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna on Thursday.

According to a statement made by the Foreign Ministry, Fidan informed Colonna on the project, initiated by the TRNC government.

The project aims to facilitate access to the Pile village, which is located on the U.N. Buffer Zone in Cyprus from the TRNC-administered area on the island, according to a statement by the TRNC Foreign Ministry, adding that it was created with humanitarian concerns.

It will expand and repair the Pile-Yiğitler Road, allow the people of Pile to easily access fields, boost economic developments and facilitate access without using the British Sovereign Base Areas (SBA), according to the TRNC ministry.

The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. for a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor of power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. The TRNC was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries: Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.

Türkiye fully supports a two-state solution on the island of Cyprus based on sovereign equality and equal international status.