President Ersin Tatar holds press conference and evaluates his meeting with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
“Federal based negotiations have been exhausted. New and formal negotiations can be held on the basis of two States”
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President Ersin Tatar has met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the UN Headquarters in New York on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.
Following the meeting on Saturday (September 23), the President held a press conference at the Turkish House where he evaluated their meeting and his contacts in New York.
President Tatar stated that he had conveyed to the Secretary-General that negotiations could only be held on the basis of two States in Cyprus.
“If there is going to be an agreement, it is going to be on the basis of two States,” President Tatar said. “Once this is accepted, new and formal negotiations can be started, and different dimensions of the Cyprus issue can be discussed. The Turkish Cypriot People have equal inherent rights in Cyprus.”
Stating that the two State policy is being fully supported by Guarantor Republic of Türkiye, President Tatar said that the President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in his address at the UN General Assembly, had stressed that such an agreement would only be possible in Cyprus under these conditions.
President Tatar added that a tripartite meeting could be held in the event the Greek Cypriot Side accepted the cooperation proposals of the Turkish Cypriot Side across different areas that would build trust between the two sides.
President Tatar stated:
“The Secretary-General appreciated our position. I also stated to the Secretary-General that I place importance on dialogue and communication, which is necessary to establish cooperation and trust between the two Sides. We can leave aside the core issues and the formal negotiations of the Cyprus issue, and discuss the cooperation proposals that we had conveyed to the Greek Cypriot Side last July [2022]. I have stated that a tripartite meeting could be held to be chaired by the Secretary-General, with the participation of both leaders, as two equal parties, to address issues such as natural resources around the island, renewable energy, electricity interconnection, irregular migration, and clearing of land mines. The Secretary-General has stated that he will be looking into this. It is not possible to start formal negotiations unless our sovereign equality and equal international status is reaffirmed and accepted.”
President Tatar said they conveyed to the Secretary-General that they have made a further proposal to open a commercial crossing point in Haspolat, to enable easier mutual entry and exit for the development of trade with Southern Cyprus and ease the traffic congestion at the Metehan crossing. He said the Secretary-General viewed this proposal as being positive that should come to fruition.
President Tatar said: "We conveyed to the Secretary-General that the TRNC, which is continuing on its path as a State, can be part of an agreement that is based on the cooperative relationship of two neighbourly States. We explained that the conditions in Cyprus have significantly changed over the years and the UN should understand this.”
Stressing that there have been federal-based negotiations for more than half-a-century, President Tatar added: “Every time we came to making an agreement, the Greek Cypriot Side has rejected a settlement. The true intention of the Greek Cypriot Side is that they want the structure to eventually evolve into a unitary state. At first, the agreement could provide for a federal model, however over time, they want to use the EU, of which Türkiye is not a member state, to assimilate Turkish Cypriot People. With ‘zero-troops, zero guarantees’, they want to consume us and make the whole of Cyprus a Greek island. We will never approve of such a process, and this is what we have stated to the Secretary-General.”
President Tatar said he had also explained to the Secretary-General that an unjust situation had been created by Resolution 186, of 1964, which allowed the Greek Cypriot Side, who expulsed Turkish Cypriot People by force of arms from the state apparatus of the partnership Republic of Cyprus just a few months earlier, to be treated as the sole government of the Island.
President Tatar said that the UN Secretary-General had listened to the demands of the Turkish Cypriot Side with understanding, adding: “What is important is to convey these demands within the framework of international law. We are making all these demands on the basis of legitimacy and on a legal basis. The fact is that the status of the Greek Cypriot Side should never be over us. There needs to be an equilibrium established between the two inherently equal Sides.
The Turkish Cypriot People exists. We have our own State, our own democracy, our own institutions, and establishments. What is now important is to crown these, which is possible through a settlement that is based on two States.”
Stating that the Greek Cypriot leader, Nikos Christodoulides had won the election with the support of radical groups, President Tatar said: “All he aspires is to assimilate the Turkish Cypriots and drag them into a unitary structure. The last one-sided so-called CBM proposals by the Greek Cypriot leader are insincere. If they continue to ignore the existence of the TRNC, it will never be possible to reach a permanent settlement.”
The President also said that he had conveyed to the Secretary-General the expectations of the Turkish Cypriot People for the UN to take a neutral approach. He said: “There is absolutely no meaning to start negotiations on a federal basis which has been exhausted. When I stated this, the Secretary-General showed understanding. I also want to say that from what I have seen there may be a lack of contact between the Secretary-General and the Security Council, because the Secretary-General has seen the realities. God willing, I hope that the Security Council will also, in a short period of time, see the realities. Because it is high time that they all see and appreciate the realities.”
President Tatar explained that he and his representatives have held numerous meetings with officials of other countries and international actors. “We have all been explaining the realistic and sincere policy of the Turkish Cypriot People for a settlement in Cyprus and the injustices facing the Turkish Cypriot People, who form part of the Great Turkish nation.”
President Tatar paid tribute remembering with respect Founding President, Rauf Denktaş and former leader Dr. Fazıl Küçük and their associates, who he said had been in the corridors of the UN Headquarters for many years explaining the injustices faced by the Turkish Cypriot People.
President Tatar also expressed his gratitude to President of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for making a fresh call to the international community during his address at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, to recognise the independence of the TRNC, and for world nations to form diplomatic, political and economic relations with the TRNC.