The Turkish Cypriot side stands resolutely on the need for a two-state solution, President Ersin Tatar said on Wednesday, on the second day of the informal UN talks in Geneva. The three-day meeting, hosted by the UN, was convened in Geneva in order to find common ground as a basis of re-starting formal negotiations in a bid to solve the Cyprus problem, BRT reported.
He said, “We expressed our own views clearly. Of course, there is no change in our position and there won’t be.
“We explained our position (on a two-state solution) in the given time frame in detail and with justification at the 5+1 talks – including both parties on the island, with guarantor countries Turkey, Greece, and the UK, plus the UN”, Tatar said.
“I said many things have changed, the context and conditions have changed”, said Tatar, recalling the island’s violent history in the 1960s, the 2004 Annan plan – which resulted in South Cyprus being admitted to the EU after rejecting the UN plan – and the failure of the Crans-Montana talks in 2017.
Tatar said he had spoken of the “injustice inflicted on Turkish Cypriots by the UN, the EU and the international community. When I checked the room, I saw that everyone knew how right we were. I think everyone knows that no results can come from this old understanding”.
President Tatar also dismissed Greek media reports claiming that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had rejected the Turkish Cypriot side’s proposal for a two-state solution, Tatar said: “They will say whatever they want. The secretary-general knew what we were going to say when he invited us”.
Tatar Submits Six-point Proposal
President Ersin Tatar submitted a document with his positions during his presentation at the plenary session chaired by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday.
He also suggested that the UN Secretary-General takes the initiative so that the Security Council adopts a resolution in which the equal international status and sovereign equality of the two sides is secured.
Such a resolution, he said, will form the new basis for the establishment of a cooperative relationship between the two states.
Once the two states’ equal international status and sovereign equality are secured, they will negotiate, under the auspices of the secretary-general, on their future relationship and for an agreement on property, security and border adjustment, and relations with the EU, Tatar suggested.
He said that these negotiations will be supported by Turkey, Greece and the UK and when appropriate, the EU as an observer.
He also suggested continuing the system of guarantees, arguing that the two states will mutually recognise each other, and the three guarantors will support this.
Tatar also suggested that any agreement reached during these negotiations will be submitted for approval in separate referenda in the two states.
