President Ersin Tatar meets with British High Commissioner İrfan Siddiq and Ambassador of Canada to Greece and High Commissioner accredited to the Greek Cypriot Administration Karine Asselin
President Ersin Tatar meets with British High Commissioner İrfan Siddiq and Ambassador of Canada to Greece and High Commissioner accredited to the Greek Cypriot Administration Karine Asselin
President Ersin Tatar has underlined the need to find a common ground between the two Sides with regards to the Cyprus issue that will pave the way for sustainable peace and stability on the basis of the reaffirmation of sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot People.
The President spoke to the press following the two separate meetings he held with British High Commissioner İrfan Siddiq and Ambassador of Canada to Greece and High Commissioner accredited to the Greek Cypriot Administration Karine Asselin.
President Tatar said an exchange of views were made and discussions were held on the possibility of “any new movement on the Cyprus issue” after the elections in the Republic of Türkiye, which follows the Greek Cypriot elections and the election of a new Greek Cypriot leader.
Turkish Cypriot inherent rights must be respected
President Tatar said: “Our position is clear and unequivocal. We are pursuing a new policy that is based on the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot People, which is a policy fully supported by Motherland Türkiye. These rights need to be respected. We have explained in both meetings the constructive and good faith approach taken by the Turkish Cypriot Side, and explained why federal based negotiations have been exhausted. We explained that the Greek Cypriot Side is not prepared to share power and prosperity with the Turkish Cypriots on the basis of equality, which has been proven time and again for more than half-a-century.”
President Tatar added that he explained the Greek Cypriot Side’s rejection of the UN Comprehensive Settlement [Annan] Plan of 2004, and the collapse of the process in Crans-Montana in 2017, which both came about because of the Greek Cypriot obsession of wanting to dominate Turkish Cypriots whom they do not accept as their equals and co-owners of the island.
“When you look at the statements of the new Greek Cypriot leader, he does not say anything different,” President Tatar continued. “He talks about the unification of the island, the entry of the entire island into the EU, the abolishment of the guarantees of Türkiye and the withdrawal of Turkish forces from the island. Therefore, when we evaluate all these, I do not see a new horizon."
President Tatar added that the Greek Cypriot leader had also met with the UN Secretary-General, adding that UN needs to treat both sides in Cyprus on the basis of equality.
“EU has no place on the negotiating table”
In answering a question with regards to an “enhanced” EU involvement in the process, President Tatar said: “The Greek Cypriot Side is now putting forward an aspiration to enhance the involvement of the EU and make the bloc a party in the process. The Turkish Cypriot Side will not approve the EU in becoming involved in the process, because the EU has never been and is not impartial. The bloc has always been taking the side of the Greek Cypriots.”
President Tatar, referring to the 5+UN informal meeting that was held in Geneva, Switzerland, in April 2021, added: “Attempts to make the EU a side in the negotiations was also made in Geneva two years ago. I reiterate that if new formal negotiations are going to be commenced, this has to be on the basis of a common ground to be found, that is based on the reaffirmation and acceptance of the sovereign equality of the Turkish Cypriot People. The negotiating table will have the two Sides -- the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot Sides, the guarantor powers Türkiye, Greece and UK, and of course the UN under the Good Offices Mission of the Secretary-General. There is no place for the EU at such a table as the EU is not capable of being impartial, because the bloc has Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration as member states, whose only aim is to use the power of the EU to impose pressure on us.”
President Tatar stated that the Greek Cypriot Side is observing the policy of “abolishing the inherent sovereign rights of the Turkish Cypriot People” and to “dilute our existence in the long term within a united Cyprus”.
"There is no change in our policy"
Stating that “there is no change in our policy”, the President said: “What the Greek Cypriot leader is saying obviously binds him, and not the TRNC. We are indeed ready to take a good faith approach for dialogue, but this good faith passes through the need for respect to be given to the political will of the Turkish Cypriot People. . . It is for respect to be given to our inherent rights, our sovereign equality and equal international status.”