The  Joint Declaration released at the G-8 Summit meeting held in Cologne refers to the Cyprus issue. In this connection, the G-8  urges the UN Secretary-General to invite   the two  sides  in  Cyprus to negotiations in the fall of 1999 and expresses the hope  to  have  an outcome obtained until the OSCE Summit in November.  Until  this  stage the two parties have engaged in  numerous talks in order  to  reach  a settlement   in  Cyprus.  Acting  with  the   advantage  of  international    recognition,   albeit unjustly   acquired,   the   Greek  Cypriot  side  has  always  been  the   party   obstructing   a  settlement  in these talks. All negotiations resulting in failure have served to  aggravate  the climate of mistrust, deepen division and at the same time to  escalate tensions in Cyprus. The  Greek Cypriot accession negotiations with the EU, and thus its  integration  with Greece, following the Luxembourg Summit, has invalidated the agreed parameters  for  the resolution  of  the  Cyprus question, in particular the sovereign equality of  the  two  sides.It has   also  upset  the  Turkish-Greek  balance  and   created  a  deadlock  in  the  negotiating process. In  fact,  exploiting the advantegous position provided by the EU,  the  Greek  Cypriot side   has  continued  with  its  policy  of  escalating  tension   by  introducing    sophisticated offensive  arms  systems  to  the island and constructing naval and air   bases  for  the  use  of Greece.   It   has   also   extended   support  to  PKK   terrorism   directed   against   Turkey. Furthermore,  the  Greek  Cypriot  side  has with impunity    even  rejected  the  package  of military  measures presented by the UN Secretary General aimed at enhancing  confidence in the buffer zone. Unless  the parameters for a settlement are built on the realities of the island and  the present  environment  of  mistrust is eliminated, any new negotiating  process  will  have  no chance   of  success.  In  this  context,  the  views  and  the  confederation  proposal   of   Mr. Denktaş,  President  of  the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, are  fully   supported  by Turkey in line with our everlasting solidarity with the Turkish Cypriot people.      Currently,   there   exists   two  equal,  sovereign  and  democratic   states   in   Cyprus, representing  the  two  peoples of the island. A settlement in  Cyprus can be   viable  if  it   is achieved by  the two states and not by third parties and if the balances between Turkey and Greece  are  maintained. What is required for that end is to make a correct diagnosis  as  to why no progress has been made in the  negotiations in the past, and to pave the way for the establishment of the basis required for  result-oriented negotiations, rather than forcing the two  sides to negotiate under certain time limits. This requires the acknowledgement of  the existence of the TRNC.