Turkey strongly condemns arson attack on mosque in Southern Cyprus

ANKARA - The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Saturday strongly condemned an arson attack on the Koprulu Haci Ibrahim Aga Mosque in the city of Limassol in the Greek Cypriot administration.

"This heinous attack is yet another addition to the past acts against different mosques in the Greek Cypriot Administration," Anadolu Agency (AA) quoted the ministry’s statement.

Ankara fully supports the statement issued by the Foreign Ministry of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on this issue, it added.

"As the latest example of the growing Islamophobia across Europe, this attack not only targets Muslims but also demonstrates once again how grave the threat to our common human values has become.

"On the other hand, the hatred and intolerance revealed by the said attack indicate how far removed some segments of the Greek Cypriot community are from an understanding of living together in peace, tranquility and tolerance with the Muslim Turkish Cypriots, providing additional proof that the two-state vision of the Turkish Cypriot side constitutes the only realistic model for the settlement of the Cyprus issue," the statement read.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Turkiye fully supports a two-state solution on the island of Cyprus based on sovereign equality and equal international status between its two states. - BERNAMA