President Ersin Tatar criticises the Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides: “He is portraying himself as putting forward a compromising approach, but implementing a policy of intimidation against Turkish Cypriot People to trap them in a corner.”
“The Greek Cypriot leader Christodoulides is on the one hand portraying himself as putting forward a compromising approach, whilst at the same time implementing a policy of intimidation against the Turkish Cypriot People in an attempt to trap them in a corner.”
President Ersin Tatar has assessed the policy of intimidation by the Greek Cypriot leader, Nikos Christodoulides against the Turkish Cypriot People, in an interview to the TAK News Agency.
President Tatar said: “I am following the statements of the Greek leader Nikos Christodoulides with astonishment. He has completely forgotten the promises he made in the presence of the UN Secretary-General in Geneva, as soon as he returned to Cyprus. Mr. Christodoulides has been making statements to the press, saying ‘we have a key, we have a strategy’.”
“Which door does that key open exactly? That key opens the door to where the basic human rights of the Turkish Cypriot People have been usurped and where unjust and unlawful isolation continues. However, the Turkish Cypriot people will no longer pass through that door because they are tired of being deceived time and again . . . and being made to wait at the doorstep. The same game has been played on us many times over the course of many years. The time is not about pleasing others. The time is for putting forward the will of our people,” President Tatar said.
*“Christodoulides has forgotten the promises he made in the presence of the UN Secretary-General”*
Stating that the Greek Cypriot leader “manipulated his own people by creating big expectations with his statements prior to heading for the informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format hosted by the UN Secretary-General in Geneva in March”, President Tatar said: “Mr. Christodoulides claimed that negotiations would resume from the point left in Crans-Montana, and he stated that he was heading to Geneva with a five-point proposal with this objective. So, what exactly happened in Geneva? He repeated the so-called eight-points that he had already put forward as a ‘package’ on January 20. He then attempted to steal a proposal and present it as his own – which had actually first been presented to the two Sides by Rosemary DiCarlo, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. When I look at what he has said and leaked since last Monday, I see that we are facing a very serious problem.”
President Tatar said: “The general attitude of Mr. Christodoulides is not that of a leader who favours a compromise or a settlement. He is paying lip service of wanting a settlement and compromise at the table, however, in complete contrast to this, he is acting with an instinct of how to further the actions of intimidation and oppress the Turkish Cypriot People on the Island. This is not diplomacy but a masked game. The Turkish Cypriot people have watched this game many times before. They played the same scenario in Crans-Montana. We are faced with a leader who forgets what he said at the table as soon as he returns to the Island.”
President Tatar continued his assessment, stating: “The Greek Cypriot leader is trying to mislead international public opinion by claiming that 'the Turkish Cypriot side rejects a solution'. The truth is completely the opposite. The Turkish Cypriot People are in favour of a compromise to be found through negotiations. However, we will not negotiate a compromise based on single sovereignty as desired by the Greek Cypriot side, and we shall not give up on our own sovereignty and State whilst trying to persuade the other side. The goal of Mr. Christodoulides is to bring the Turkish Cypriot people under Greek Cypriot sovereignty. This is not a search for a solution, but a policy of imposition. Not only has Christodoulides not developed a single discourse that has changed since Crans-Montana, his only objective is to portray himself as a victim and to keep Turkish Cypriot People under pressure. He should know that the Turkish Cypriot People will not play this game.”
The President said: "The candidates who are seeking to stand in the upcoming election whilst adopting parallel expressions as that of Mr. Christodoulides should be carefully observed. We are compelled to ask the question as to what sort of a future is being promised by these candidates to our people – who are giving the perception that they will, if elected, accommodate the will of the Greek Cypriot side. Those who have the audacity to link the sovereignty of the Turkish Cypriot People to the oppressive policies of the Greek Cypriot leader should be sure that they will find our people demanding their rights. The Greek Cypriot leader's insistence on the exhausted federal basis is a game that aims to bring the Turkish Cypriot People under Greek Cypriot sovereignty, and an attempt to trap the Turkish Cypriot People in a corner by depriving them of their inherent rights, and in doing so placing Turkish Cypriot People into a framework that is determined by the Greek Cypriot leader. This is not a solution but a surrender.”
President Tatar said: “The Turkish Cypriot people will take their place at the negotiation table by protecting their State, sovereignty and will, providing the other side also has the will to compromise. The Turkish Cypriot People are strong enough not to surrender to attempts of the Greek Cypriot side to bring them under their domination.”
“As the Turkish Cypriot people, we have demonstrated our stance in favour of a solution at every opportunity,” President Tatar stated. “However, this solution is not a surrender model that will fit into the framework that is determined by the Greek Cypriots but a two State settlement that is based on our sovereign equality and equal international status. To those who pursue a policy of intimidating us with isolation, our response is clear: The Turkish Cypriot people will never give up their rights and sovereignty. Our people are too honourable, resilient and strong and will not surrender."