According to reports in the Greek Cypriot press, President of the Greek Cypriot Administration, Nikos Christodoulides, stated that his government is in contact with the UNSG’s Personal Envoy, Maria Angela Holguin, who paid two visits to the island this year.
Christodoulides emphasised that in the coming days the most important thing will be the meeting between the UN Secretary-General and President Tatar. He expressed hope that Tatar will respond to this issue during the meeting and also hoped for a positive response to the UN Secretary-General’s proposal.
Kibris Postasi approached a source close to the Turkish Cypriot Presidency who said the following: “The Secretary-General is a very experienced politician and currently at the centre of international diplomacy in his second term. He should never allow the disrespectful act of shutting the mouth of the Greek Cypriot leader, which also implies disrespect towards him, and should issue the necessary warning”
“The Greek Cypriot leader Christodoulides is uncompromising, a political figure with EOKA roots. This characteristic was already fully revealed by his speech yesterday, on April 1st, the founding day of the terrorist organisation. As evidenced by his own colleagues, he played an important role both behind the scenes and openly in the collapse of the Crans-Montana talks in 2017, where the federation model was exhausted.
“While tirelessly working to prevent the recognition of the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriots, he also engages in empty rhetoric to appear charming to the international community. He does not desire the equalisation of the status of the TRNC with the Greek Cypriot State. The vision of the Greek Cypriot leader is to patch up the Turkish Cypriot people into a minority status within the Greek Cypriot State through constitutional amendments.
“The chapter on federation is closed for good. The federation model has collapsed, it’s exhausted, and now it’s null and void for the Turkish Cypriot side and Turkey.
“Given these realities, it’s clear that the Greek Cypriot leader, whose political lifespan is clearly limited, has attempted to shut the mouth of the UN Secretary-General this time.
“The Greek Cypriot leader claims that the UN Secretary-General presented a proposal in Brussels and that he accepted it, saying, ‘I hope Tatar also accepts the proposal that Guterres will present on April 5th.’ It is quite clear that the UN neither has such authority nor initiative.
“Mr. Tatar is going to New York to once again emphasise the position that for a new and official negotiation process to begin within the framework of the proposal put forth by the Turkish Cypriot side, fully supported by the motherland Turkey, in Geneva, it is necessary to confirm our sovereign equality and equal international status.
“The UN should not entertain this manipulation by the Greek Cypriot leadership. Currently, there is nothing but an exercise to determine whether there is common ground between the two sides for a new and official process on the Cyprus issue.
“This is neither a negotiation nor an attempt to find a solution or build bridges. This is clearly an exercise to determine whether there is common ground or not. The only task of the [UNSG’s] Personal Representative appointed for a period not exceeding six months on January 5th is this. The authority of the Personal Representative has been clearly defined, and President [Ersin] Tatar, along with Turkey, has approved the appointment within these limits.
“The Secretary-General is a very experienced politician and currently at the centre of international diplomacy in his second term. He should never allow the disrespectful act of shutting the mouth of the Greek Cypriot leader, which also implies disrespect towards him, and should issue the necessary warning…“.
