“TWO-STATE SOLUTION SHOULD BE ACCEPTED”

President Ersin Tatar met with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Leader of the Greek Cypriot Administration Nicos Anastasiades in New York.

The informal luncheon hosted by the UN Secretary General Guterres in honour of the leaders lasted about 2 hours. Following the meeting, President Tatar made statements to the press.

 

Stating that they discussed what kind of understandings can be developed to improve the lives of people in Cyprus, President Tatar stated that as two separate States coexisting  side-by-side on the same island, he will support all efforts to further strengthen the 12 technical committees and to increase the welfare of the two peoples with the decisions they will take on various issues such as health.

 

 

“UNLESS THE TWO STATE SOLUTION IS ACCEPTED, THE STATUS QUO WILL CONTINUE”

 

Stating that there are two separate peoples and two separate states in Cyprus and that the status quo will continue if this reality is not accepted, President Tatar said that he appreciated the stance and objective attitude of the Secretary General.

 

Pointing out that the Turkish Cypriot people are facing a great injustice, President Tatar said, “The Secretary General also confirms this in his speeches, there is a state in the north that has full-fledged institutions and organizations. Within this framework, it is out of the question for us to take a step back from our own state after all this time.”   

            

Emphasising that an agreement could be possible with  two separate sovereign states co-existing side-by-side in a cooperative relationship, President Tatar continued:

 

“For this objective, the Secretary General needs to appeal the Security Council and have issued such a resolution for the Turkish Cypriot People. If this is taken, we will sit at the table to hold formal negotiations for a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus. I conveyed it once more today, however, the Greek Cypriot side does not accept this. In other words, we are faced with a mentality that does not accept that we have sovereign rights separately.”

 

 

 Noting that Turkey’s support for this new vision and policy is the ‘greatest source of comfort and strength’ for the TRNC, President Tatar stated that they will maintain this position to the end.

GREEK CYPRIOT LEADER ANASTASIADES ADMITTED REGRET THAT THE GREEK CYPRIOT SIDE VOTED NO TO THE ANNAN PLAN AND MISSED THE OPPORTUNITY

Expressing that Cyprus is not the old Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean is not the former Eastern Mediterranean, President Tatar added that the conditions and priorities of the world have changed.  Referring to the informal tripartite meeting in New York,  President Tatar said that Mr Anastasiades had confessed his regret that the Greek Cypriot side ‘missed the opportunity by voting no’ to the UN comprehensive settlement (Annan) Plan in 2004.

 

Emphasising that there are two States in Cyprus, President Tatar said: “What we will do now is to further strengthen our own economy and our own state. Because when we look at the Eastern Mediterranean, our national interests and an even stronger Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus need to be rooted together with Turkey, in the Blue homeland and in the airspace.”

Stating that as regards recognition, there is a problem and that it will take time, President Tatar continued as follows:

“This does not mean that we will give up our struggle. We will continue our struggle to the end.  As of now, our biggest responsibility is to explain ourselves more to the international community and communicate our expectations more with the world and to have our position accepted accordingly.”

As for the criticisms on the Maraş (Varosha) issue, President Tatar said: “The Greek Cypriot side has missed   extraordinary opportunities. The Annan Plan is one of them. Later there was Crans Montana.”

Expressing that the former habitants would be able to apply to seek a domestic legal remedy under the European Court of Human Rights sanctioned Immovable Property Commission in order not to contradict international law, President Tatar said that the Varosha initiative is a step taken for the fulfilment of human rights.  

“OUR SOVEREIGN EQUALITY SHOULD BE ACCEPTED”

 

Stating that Secretary General Guterres could meet him and Anastasiades again in the coming months, President Tatar said that he did not avoid dialogue and is always ready to meet and added   “We will only start the official, comprehensive negotiation process to resolve the Cyprus issue when our sovereign equality is accepted. Apart from that, it is an informal meal, an informal meeting, an informal gathering, there is nothing wrong with them.”