Advisor to Erdogan suggests Turkey take Northern-occupied Cyprus

In controversial statements to media, a senior advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has suggested Turkey take the Turkish-occupied north of Cyprus.

The comments, made by Yigit Bulut, came two days before talks on the ethnically split island’s reunification collapsed at a Swiss resort. Bulut argued that Britain was attempting to control the northern part of Cyprus.

He went on to suggest that two British military bases would remain following a possible reunification. He also alleged that on July 15, the night of a failed coup in Turkey, increased activity had been reported on the bases and that members of the US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen's religious movement, whom the Turkish administration accuses of plotting the coup, were awaiting orders.

“[Under these circumstances] do we hand over Cyprus to the EU and then plead for Schengen validation? This is an assassination,” Bulut argued.

If the Turkish-occupied north did not wish to go on with the current regime, “it will turn into a Turkish province and carry on in that way. We provide water and electricity to the island,” he said.

The occupied north’s economy “was organised in Turkey," said Bulut, adding that, "under these circumstances, there are still those spreading propaganda on behalf of England and the EU."