President Erhürman: “We have never been in favour of tension, nor will we be”

President Tufan Erhürman issued a written statement on Wednesday, stressing that “calm prevails” in the Çayhan Plain area as of today, and that communication and dialogue continue.

The statement of President Erhürman reads as follows:

"According to the information we have received from our Security Forces Command, calm prevails in the Çayhan Plain area as of today, and communication and dialogue continue.

This has, in fact, also been confirmed in the statement issued by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force.

At this stage, we remain in full coordination with all competent security authorities. There should be no doubt that the Presidency will fulfil its responsibilities in this process in a complete, consistent and responsible manner.

Meanwhile, I believe it is now better understood by all as to how important it is for issues arising from a non-security-related matter that emerged in the region a few weeks ago to be swiftly addressed by the political authorities.

As the Turkish Cypriot side, we have never been in favour of tension, nor will we be. 

Despite statements from the south and certain media reports and commentary that do not reflect the facts and appear aimed at escalating tensions, it should be clearly understood that we will not participate in such efforts.

Problems will be resolved calmly and with determination, through dialogue and diplomacy.”