Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kudret Özersay has expressed dissatisfaction over the UN Secretary-General’s report on Cyprus, stating that it fell short of drawing a realistic picture of the current situation.
An unofficial copy of the report, which had been given to the UN Security Council on Tuesday evening, said the UNSG’s envoy, Jane Holl Lute, would continue her efforts to secure agreement between the two sides on the drafting of terms of reference that would lead to a resumption of the talks.
In a post on social media, Özersay said that the report made clear the intention of the UN Secretary-General to continue the effort with a view to achieving progress despite the fact efforts to find a common ground to restart the Cyprus talks for the past eight months, had proved useless.
“The only thing important is that the status quo continues,” he said.
Pointing out that the report was still unofficial; Foreign Minister Özersay said that the UN could have made a more realistic evaluation of the current situation.
He said that the report skittishly admitted that no ground existed for the resumption of talks; Özersay said:
“There is no ground but the continuation of efforts to find a common ground. It is saying that consultations should continue if the sides cannot start talks under these conditions. The UN, once again, is refraining from telling the truth out of fear it will offend one of the two sides. It seems the UN has once again failed to be impartial.”
Foreign Minister Özersay said that a detailed evaluation of the report will be made when the official version comes out in the days ahead.
Meanwhile, President Mustafa Akıncı’s spokesman Barış Burcu has said that the president will comment when the UNSG’s report becomes official.
BRT
