President Erhürman sends three separate letters in response to the obstructive actions by the Greek Cypriot side
President Tufan Erhürman on Friday sent three separate letters to the United Nations, the European Union and FC Barcelona in response to actions taken by the Greek Cypriot side aimed at obstructing international, cultural, sporting, social and other activities of the Turkish Cypriot side and its people.
President Tufan Erhürman sent three separate letters in response to intensified efforts by the Greek Cypriot side to obstruct activities involving the Turkish Cypriot side and its people in the international, cultural, sporting, social and other fields.
The letters were addressed to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta.
In his letters, President Erhürman placed particular emphasis on the timing of these attempts, stating that the counterproductive steps taken by the Greek Cypriot leadership “exacerbated mistrust between the two sides at a time when UN Secretary-General António Guterres, during his recent visit to the island at the end of July, declared that this is the moment when all efforts must be made to rebuild trust”.
President Erhürman stated that these developments deserve particular attention “when we are collectively seeking to build trust between the two sides and, more importantly, between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, with a view to creating an environment conducive to meaningful progress towards a comprehensive settlement”.
The President stated that the Greek Cypriot leadership was instead taking steps that ran contrary to the stated objective of the UN Secretary-General.
Recalling the report of the UN Secretary-General, as well as relevant decisions of the Council of the European Union and resolutions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concerning the ending of the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot people, President Erhürman called for steps in this direction to be taken without further delay.
In the letters, President Erhürman emphasised that these attempts by the Greek Cypriot leadership to prevent children and young people from establishing links with the world further deepened the mistrust between the two peoples and, consequently, undermined the settlement efforts being pursued by the UN Secretary-General.