Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu called on the Greek Cypriots not to hope that the 35,000-strong Turkish troops will ever leave the island.

“This is their dream,” Çavuşoğlu stated within the framework of the UN-mediated talks in Switzerland. “[But] they need to be wake up and stop dreaming.”

The Turkish FM added that these talks are the last attempt to resolve the Cyprus issue.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikolaos “Nikos” Kotzias, however, noted that this position by the Turkish side is nothing new.