Azernews.Az

Türkiye has strongly condemned an early-morning arson attack on the Koprulu Haci Ibrahim Aga Mosque in the city of Limassol in the Greek-administrated part of Cyprus.

"This heinous attack is yet another addition to the past acts against different mosques in the Greek Cypriot Administration," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

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

"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," it added.

The ministry further stressed that "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, tranquillity and tolerance with the Muslim Turkish Cypriots."

According to the statement, that attitude from the Greek Cypriot side provides "additional proof that the two-state vision of the Turkish Cypriot side constitutes the only realistic model for the settlement of the Cyprus issue."

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

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

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