Self-declared Foreign Minister Kudret Ozersay said Turkish-Cypriots will never accept a so-called “loose federation” reunification idea and said that problems of sharing power were behind the collapse of negotiations in July, 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana to put the island together again.

In an interview with CNN Turk, Ozersay said the legitimate Cypriot government tried to make the impression that the talks in Switzerland were interrupted over disagreements because of Turkey’s refusal to remove an army from the northern third it has occupied since an unlawful 1974 invasion and demand for the right to militarily intervene again.

He said Cypriots are not really prepared to share power equally with the Turkish Cypriots who make up only about 18 percent of the island’s population.

“Less authority with the central federal government and more authority with the states. This is defined as loose federation,” he said, adding that it was impossible for the Turkish Cypriot side to accept such an approach.

He also said Turkey and Turkish-Cypriots are ready to drill for oil and gas in the same waters where the legitimate government has licensed foreign companies to look. Turkey has sent warships off the coast to scare off foreign energy vessels from operating.