ATHENS: Turkey insists that α “two-state solution” is now the only way to solve the Cyprus problem, even if it contradicts UN resolutions for a federation model with political equality between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. The Mediterranean island has remained divided since 1974, when Turkish troops took advantage of a coup orchestrated by the military government of Athens against then-Cyprus President Archbishop Makarios and invaded the island. Turkey has occupied almost 40 percent of Cyprus territory since then, while Turkish Cypriots have declared the independence of the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” a state recognized only by Turkey. Turkey wants to keep Cyprus as a “geopolitical hostage” as this serves President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plans to revive the Ottoman empire and exert maritime dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean.