President Ersin Tatar received Colin Stewart, Special Representative and Head of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP)
President Tatar: “Our sovereignty must be accepted in order to resume formal negotiations”
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President Ersin Tatar received the new Special Representative of the Secretary General in Cyprus and Chief of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), Mr Colin Stewart.
After the meeting, which lasted about an hour, President Tatar made a statement to the press and said that they had a fruitful meeting and that he explained the Cyprus issue to Mr Stewart.
“We have explained to Mr Stewart our new vision for being able to reach a settlement that will bring about sustainable peace and stability,” the President said. Underlining that the Greek Cypriots saw Cyprus as a Hellenic island, the President stated that he had advised Mr Stewart that “previous negotiations for a federal-based settlement have been exhausted”.
“The Greek Cypriot side refuses to share this island on the basis of equality with the Turkish Cypriot co-owners of the island,” President Tatar said. “We explained that Turkish Cypriots have inherent sovereign equality rights on the island of Cyprus”.
“Our sovereign equality and equal international status need to be reaffirmed in order to start formal negotiations,” he added.
President Tatar noted that although the TRNC was established in 1983, Turkish Cypriots' sovereignty is an inherent right emanating from history as well as from being a signatory party to the 1960 partnership Republic. He said the Turkish Cypriots were forced in 1963 to change the names of all its administrations after they were forced out of the state apparatus by force of arms by the Greek Cypriot side, in order to maintain their own existence on the island with the support of Turkey.
President Tatar said that he was planned to meet with Greek Cypriot leader Mr Anastasiades at the reception in the buffer zone on December 14.
The President stated that a solution, which would imprison the Turkish Cypriots inside a federation or inside a single unitary state, will not be acceptable. President Tatar also stated that he had the opportunity to tell Mr Stewart about all the injustices applied to the Turkish Cypriots on the occasion of December 10, Human Rights Day.
The President noted that the solution in Cyprus should be “fair, practical, equal, applicable and realistic,” and added that as the Turkish Cypriot side, they conveyed the “beneficial works of the technical committees to the Special Representative and that they would contribute to constructive projects on these issues”.
In response to a question, President Tatar said that the positions of Turkey and the TRNC “have united position on the need to start formal negotiations once there is a reaffirmation of the sovereign equality and international status of the Turkish Cypriot side”.
In response to another question, President Tatar noted that some of the confidence-building measures, brought to the table by the Greek Cypriot leader Mr Anastasiades in Geneva and Brussels, are unacceptable since they compromise the sovereignty of the Turkish Cypriots.
Mr Stewart: “I would like to carry out constructive work”
In his statement, Colin Stewart, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General in Cyprus and the Chief of Peacekeeping Force (UNFICYP), spoke to the press following his meeting with President Tatar.
Mr Stewart said he was “warmly welcomed” by President Tatar due to his new arrival on the island and stated that he wanted to carry out constructive work between the two sides in Cyprus.
“I just had a good introductory meeting with His Excellency, Mr. Ersin Tatar. I would like to thank him for his warm welcome to Cyprus and I look forward to working with him and all our partners and stakeholders across the island,” he said.
Mr Stewart said he “looked forward to welcoming both leaders to an informal end-of-year reception at Ledra Palace Hotel” next week, which he said would be scaled down due to the pandemic.
“I hope that my first meetings with both leaders will offer an opportunity to collaborate closely.”
After the meeting, which lasted about an hour, President Tatar made a statement to the press and said that they had a fruitful meeting and that he explained the Cyprus issue to Mr Stewart.
“We have explained to Mr Stewart our new vision for being able to reach a settlement that will bring about sustainable peace and stability,” the President said. Underlining that the Greek Cypriots saw Cyprus as a Hellenic island, the President stated that he had advised Mr Stewart that “previous negotiations for a federal-based settlement have been exhausted”.
“The Greek Cypriot side refuses to share this island on the basis of equality with the Turkish Cypriot co-owners of the island,” President Tatar said. “We explained that Turkish Cypriots have inherent sovereign equality rights on the island of Cyprus”.
“Our sovereign equality and equal international status need to be reaffirmed in order to start formal negotiations,” he added.
President Tatar noted that although the TRNC was established in 1983, Turkish Cypriots' sovereignty is an inherent right emanating from history as well as from being a signatory party to the 1960 partnership Republic. He said the Turkish Cypriots were forced in 1963 to change the names of all its administrations after they were forced out of the state apparatus by force of arms by the Greek Cypriot side, in order to maintain their own existence on the island with the support of Turkey.
President Tatar said that he was planned to meet with Greek Cypriot leader Mr Anastasiades at the reception in the buffer zone on December 14.
The President stated that a solution, which would imprison the Turkish Cypriots inside a federation or inside a single unitary state, will not be acceptable. President Tatar also stated that he had the opportunity to tell Mr Stewart about all the injustices applied to the Turkish Cypriots on the occasion of December 10, Human Rights Day.
The President noted that the solution in Cyprus should be “fair, practical, equal, applicable and realistic,” and added that as the Turkish Cypriot side, they conveyed the “beneficial works of the technical committees to the Special Representative and that they would contribute to constructive projects on these issues”.
In response to a question, President Tatar said that the positions of Turkey and the TRNC “have united position on the need to start formal negotiations once there is a reaffirmation of the sovereign equality and international status of the Turkish Cypriot side”.
In response to another question, President Tatar noted that some of the confidence-building measures, brought to the table by the Greek Cypriot leader Mr Anastasiades in Geneva and Brussels, are unacceptable since they compromise the sovereignty of the Turkish Cypriots.
Mr Stewart: “I would like to carry out constructive work”
In his statement, Colin Stewart, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General in Cyprus and the Chief of Peacekeeping Force (UNFICYP), spoke to the press following his meeting with President Tatar.
Mr Stewart said he was “warmly welcomed” by President Tatar due to his new arrival on the island and stated that he wanted to carry out constructive work between the two sides in Cyprus.
“I just had a good introductory meeting with His Excellency, Mr. Ersin Tatar. I would like to thank him for his warm welcome to Cyprus and I look forward to working with him and all our partners and stakeholders across the island,” he said.
Mr Stewart said he “looked forward to welcoming both leaders to an informal end-of-year reception at Ledra Palace Hotel” next week, which he said would be scaled down due to the pandemic.
“I hope that my first meetings with both leaders will offer an opportunity to collaborate closely.”