President Tufan Erhürman underlines following the meeting of the leaders:

“I will not enter into talks on substance prior to agreement being reached on the procedure”

“I proposed that the leaders also meet during periods when Ms. María Ángela Holguín, Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on Cyprus, is not on the island”

 

“There is nothing new in the five points”

 

“The Turkish Cypriot people have the will for a solution, we do not want to experience disappointment once again”

 

“On 2 February, we will assess and explain in detail our first 100 days in office. . .”

 

 

President Tufan Erhürman, who took part in a trilateral meeting in the UN buffer zone on Wednesday with Greek Cypriot Leader Nikos Christodoulides, hosted by María Ángela Holguín, Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Cyprus, held a press conference following the meeting. In his statement at the press conference held at the Presidency, President Erhürman said that the meeting was beneficial, and stressed that he proposed for the two leaders to hold tête-à-tête meetings in the period ahead.

 

 

“DIALOGUE AND DIPLOMACY ARE ALWAYS GOOD”

 

President Erhürman emphasised that the meeting of the leaders was “beneficial.” Noting that Greek Cypriot Leader Nikos Christodoulides had put forward a five-point proposal, President Erhürman said: “There is nothing new in the five points that we did not know before today.” Stating that he made a proposal at the end of the meeting, President Erhürman said: “I proposed that the leaders also meet at times when Ms. María Ángela Holguín, Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on Cyprus, is not here, to which Mr. Christodoulides responded that this would be welcome and suggested that such a meeting be arranged within two weeks.”

 

The President added: “I cannot say that we held a very productive meeting, but I can use the word ‘beneficial’ rather than ‘productive’; we had the opportunity to listen to each other more,” underlining that “dialogue and diplomacy are always good”.

 

 

“THERE IS NOTHING NEW IN THE FIVE POINTS”

 

Stating that the Greek Cypriot Leader had presented a five-point proposal during the meeting, President Erhürman said: “There is nothing new in the five points -- nothing that we have not known before today. Matters that he had previously put forward individually in earlier meetings were simply compiled within these five points.”

 

President Erhürman further explained that, at the end of the meeting, he proposed that the leaders also hold meetings at times when Ms. Holguin is not in Cyprus, adding that Mr. Christodoulides responded, “That would be good; let us arrange such a meeting within two weeks.”

 

Drawing attention to the need for effective participation and rotating presidency to be accepted in principle under the heading of political equality, the President said: “As a methodology, principles and procedures must be accepted; without these being accepted, one should not move on to substance.”

 

 

“WE HAVE NEVER PUT FORWARD CONDITIONS; WE NEED A PROCEDURE”

 

In response to the question, “Are we making the acceptance of all four points a condition, or is this a matter for bargaining?”, President Erhürman stated: “We have never put forward conditions. What we need is a procedure. Up to now, we have sat at the table without determining the procedure in advance. There is a reason why I separate substance from procedure. Before you step onto the pitch, the rules are known. We have played many matches without a procedure, without rules. I am the one who wants to step onto the pitch the most. However, the moment you begin discussing substance, you have lost the procedure. It is not right to move on to substance without first establishing the rules.” President Erhürman added that he will elaborate more on the details on 2 February, when he will be holding a press conference to assess his first 100 days in office.

 

 

EMPHASIS ON POLITICAL EQUALITY, EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION AND ROTATING PRESIDENCY

 

Stating that the first item of their four-point methodology proposal is “political equality,” President Erhürman underlined that his proposal is “very clear” and emphasised that “effective participation and a rotating presidency must be accepted in principle”. He said that arrangements for rotating presidency -- such as two-to-one, three-to-one, or four-to-one -- would be a matter for negotiations and bargaining, but that the absence of rotating presidency in principle would mean that Turkish Cypriots would never be the head of that structure. Stressing that, if it became clear from the outset that a Turkish Cypriot would never serve as the head of the structure to be established, this would amount to the absence of political equality, President Erhürman said that the consequences and pain of such an approach has already been experienced during the period of the 1960 Constitution.

 

 

“IT IS NECESSARY NOT TO MOVE ON TO SUBSTANCE WITHOUT PROCEDURES BEING ACCEPTED”

 

Emphasising that rotating presidency must be accepted in principle for genuine political equality, President Erhürman stated that following its acceptance, convergences must also be accepted in principle. Stating that they were speaking of a principled acceptance without going into the content of the convergences, President Erhürman said this is not a matter of content but of methodology.

 

Noting that the third item is “time-frame,” President Erhürman stated that this, too, should be addressed in principle. He emphasised that they are not proposing a specific duration -- such as “eight months” or “ten months” -- but rather seeking acceptance of the principle that, once the negotiation process begins, it will be conducted within a defined time limit.

 

Describing the fourth item as a heading they have “discussed many times,” the President said that, overall, with these four points they want these principles and procedures to be accepted as methodology, and that substance should not be moved on to without these being accepted.

 

“THE TURKISH CYPRIOT PEOPLE HAVE THE POLITICAL WILL FOR A SOLUTION; WE DO NOT WANT TO EXPERIENCE DISAPPOINTMENT AGAIN”

 

Stating that disappointment has been experienced on many occasions to date due to the absence of agreed procedures, President Erhürman said that they do not want to experience disappointment again. 

 

“The Turkish Cypriot people have the political will for a solution,” President Erhürman said, adding that “this does not, however, diminish the importance of confidence-building measures, which remain an important issue”. Recalling that eight years have passed since Crans-Montana, President Erhürman stated that no meaningful dialogue has been conducted during this period. Stating that he is approaching the third month of his term in office and that three meetings have taken place within three months, the President underlined that “we are earnestly trying to make progress”.

 

 

EMPHASIS ON STEPS TO IMPROVE DAILY LIVES

 

President Erhürman emphasised the importance of conveying to both, Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, that the two leaders can meet in Lefkoşa and at least address issues that improve the daily lives of people. He added that, if this is demonstrated, “of course, 5+1 or other format meetings” could also be considered. Stressing that this is the path they are following, President Erhürman said: “Diplomacy and dialogue are always important”.

 

 

ERHÜRMAN PROPOSES MORE FREQUENT MEETINGS

 

Conveying that he also made a proposal at the end of the meeting, President Erhürman stated that, in the presence of Ms. Holguín, he proposed to Mr. Christodoulides: “Let us also come together at times when Ms. Holguin is not here.” President Erhürman said that Mr. Christodoulides approached this proposal positively and instructed his representative to arrange such a meeting within two weeks.

 

Stating he cannot say that a “very productive meeting was held today”, President Erhürman said that, in order to call it productive, they would have expected agreement to have been reached on at least three-to-five confidence-building measures, however this could not be achieved.

 

 

DIALOGUE WILL CONTINUE

 

President Erhürman underlined that the proposal for the leaders to meet more frequently was not within these five points; rather, it was a proposal he made after the meeting ended and after Ms. Holguín’s own statement was prepared, whilst the text was being reviewed inside. Reiterating his description of the meeting as “not productive, but useful,” President Erhürman stated that they left the meeting with a joint decision in the direction of continuing dialogue.

 

In response to a question, the President explained the content of the five points proposed by the Greek Cypriot side, listing them as: reaffirming the basis for a Cyprus settlement; the UN preparing and distributing to both sides the convergences reached up to Crans-Montana; distributing to all five parties the respective convergences concerning the five parties in the same manner; the Secretary-General convening a conference in an expanded formal format on the basis of this document; and the announcement at that meeting that four crossings will be opened.

 

 

“THE SUBSTANCE WILL NOT BE MOVED ON TO BEFORE THE FOUR POINTS ARE COMPLETED”

 

President Erhürman emphasised the need for a procedure, noting that he has never publicly used the term “precondition.” He noted that, in the past, meetings were held without a clearly defined procedure, and that this must serve as a lesson. Using the analogy, “before you go out onto the pitch, the rules are known,” President Erhürman emphasised that it is not appropriate to move on to substance without first establishing the rules. Referring also to the sequencing of the four points, he added, “We will complete all four, and then we will discuss matters of substance.”

 

 

“I DO NOT WANT NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE SAKE OF NEGOTIATIONS, BUT FOR THE SAKE OF A SOLUTION”

 

Regarding the time-frame proposal, President Erhürman stated that they are “not talking about setting a time,” but about acceptance in principle that it will be subject to a time-frame, and said: “We do not want, and we do not accept, an open-ended negotiation process,” adding: “I do not want negotiations for the sake of negotiations, but for the sake of a solution.”

 

Recalling that, on the last night of Crans-Montana, Greek Cypriot Leader Anastasiadis rejected the concept of a rotating presidency, President Erhürman said that this stance serves as an important lesson, and that for this reason they do not want to face such disappointment again. Reiterating his principle that “I will not move on to a discussion of substance before the procedure is concluded,” President Erhürman clarified that this is not about avoiding substantive discussions and emphasised that “the moment you start talking about substance before the rules are known, you have already lost the chance to address the crucial matter on procedure.”

 

 

“EITHER WE WILL WIN TOGETHER, OR WE WILL LOSE TOGETHER”

 

President Erhürman said that as the meeting came to a conclusion, he and Mr. Christodoulides told each other: “We are partners, and either we will both succeed -- for both sides, for both peoples -- or we will both fail.” He added that the overarching goal is to achieve peace and stability from which the island of Cyprus, her peoples, and the wider region will benefit. President Erhürman said that he first voiced his four-point methodology proposal at a meeting organised on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the UN Comprehensive Settlement (Annan) Plan referenda, and that this approach has a history of two-to-three years. Underlining that he will not abandon this line, the President said this is not obstinacy or a precondition, and reiterated that “the only thing we are saying is that the rules must be determined from the outset”.

 

President Erhürman added that on 2 February, he will be holding a press conference to present a 100-day assessment. He stated that, at this meeting, they will provide a more detailed explanation of each confidence-building measure, including what exists, what was proposed, and the reasons why certain measures were not implemented.