Australian High Commissioner Sam Beever's farewell visit to President Ersin Tatar
Australian High Commissioner Sam Beever has paid his farewell visit to President Ersin Tatar at the Presidency.
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Explaining the position of the Turkish Cypriot side in relation to the Cyprus issue, President Tatar said that the way to sustainable peace and stability in Cyprus is for formal negotiations to be based on the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot co-owners of the island. The President emphasised that the sovereign equality of Turkish Cypriots is an inherent right stemming from history and the 1960 treaty of which Turkish Cypriots are co-signatories, which had established the partnership state, which was in 1963 usurped by the Greek Cypriots by force of arms with the objective of annexing the island to Greece.
“A settlement that is based on the existence of two States that are in a cooperative relationship is just, fair, realistic and practical,” the President said. “I believe that despite being thousands of miles away, Australia can be more objective and can take a more even-handed in her approach to the two sides in Cyprus. Negotiations for an equality-based settlement has been exhausted because of countless rejections by the Greek Cypriots. Former UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was serving during the 2004 based UN Comprehensive Settlement (Annan) Plan which was rejected by the Greek Cypriot side and accepted by the Turkish Cypriot side in the separately held simultaneous referenda. Mr Straw is today a strong advocate for a two State settlement in Cyprus and has publicly stated that he had ‘kicked himself’ when the Greek Cypriot side were unjustly made members of the EU despite refusing the solution, whilst Turkish Cypriots continue to be restricted from being able to trade directly and travel directly to and from their own country. Unfortunately, the EU has lost its ability to be impartial.
President Tatar said: “The 1960 treaties prohibit the membership of Cyprus to any other union or country of which both Turkey and Greece are not members; furthermore, EU principles provide that there should not be an ongoing conflict of a candidate member state. Unfortunately, all these were brushed under the carpet and the EU allowed the Greek Cypriot side, in the name of the whole island, to become members because Greece was threatening at the time to veto the expansion of the bloc to the east.”
President Tatar said it was time to “think outside the box” when approaching the Cyprus issue, rather than demanding negotiations that are based on the same parameters which have been “tried and tested” and have failed time and time again, for more than half-a-century.
President Tatar also stated that there are “tens of thousands of Turkish Cypriots living in Australia – particularly in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne; who are valuable to Australian society both economically and politically, providing a rich cultural diversity to the country”.
President Tatar wished Mr Beever success in his future.
“A settlement that is based on the existence of two States that are in a cooperative relationship is just, fair, realistic and practical,” the President said. “I believe that despite being thousands of miles away, Australia can be more objective and can take a more even-handed in her approach to the two sides in Cyprus. Negotiations for an equality-based settlement has been exhausted because of countless rejections by the Greek Cypriots. Former UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was serving during the 2004 based UN Comprehensive Settlement (Annan) Plan which was rejected by the Greek Cypriot side and accepted by the Turkish Cypriot side in the separately held simultaneous referenda. Mr Straw is today a strong advocate for a two State settlement in Cyprus and has publicly stated that he had ‘kicked himself’ when the Greek Cypriot side were unjustly made members of the EU despite refusing the solution, whilst Turkish Cypriots continue to be restricted from being able to trade directly and travel directly to and from their own country. Unfortunately, the EU has lost its ability to be impartial.
President Tatar said: “The 1960 treaties prohibit the membership of Cyprus to any other union or country of which both Turkey and Greece are not members; furthermore, EU principles provide that there should not be an ongoing conflict of a candidate member state. Unfortunately, all these were brushed under the carpet and the EU allowed the Greek Cypriot side, in the name of the whole island, to become members because Greece was threatening at the time to veto the expansion of the bloc to the east.”
President Tatar said it was time to “think outside the box” when approaching the Cyprus issue, rather than demanding negotiations that are based on the same parameters which have been “tried and tested” and have failed time and time again, for more than half-a-century.
President Tatar also stated that there are “tens of thousands of Turkish Cypriots living in Australia – particularly in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne; who are valuable to Australian society both economically and politically, providing a rich cultural diversity to the country”.
President Tatar wished Mr Beever success in his future.