Lute paid a visit to the island looking for common ground between the two sides in order to restart negotiations.
President Ersin Tatar made it clear that he intended to hold fast to the position he had outlined at the Geneva Conference.
He said that he was ready to participate in an informal meeting but to go to substantive talks it was important that the six-point proposal he had submitted in Geneva was accepted, especially the first point that concerns sovereign equality and equal international status.
“We have already gained our sovereignty, our rights emanating from history. We will never allow sovereignty to be debated at the table”, Tatar emphasised.
There was no common ground to begin negotiations, he told Lute and also asked how long lasting a solution would be that was produced by coercion.
“We believe that if there is a solution, it can be successful if it is based on equality between two states. And our sovereignty is extremely important”, Tatar added.
Tatar also said that if UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was meeting with the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades in Brussels later this week, he should meet with him as well, arguing that the UN should observe the principle of equality.
President Tatar said that he had asked Lute to submit a request to meet Guterres in Brussels.
