CTP: Geneva talks ‘a show’

THE main opposition Republican Turkish Party (CTP) snubbed President Ersin Tatar’s briefing to Parliament this week on last month’s Cyprus talks in Geneva, describing it as a “show” that had “no meaning”.

The five-hour briefing on the outcome of the “five-plus-UN” informal Cyprus meeting that failed to find “common ground” with the Greek Cypriot side was held behind closed doors.

The CTP said in a written statement that it had decided not to take part in the meeting because Mr Tatar had not given political parties “appropriate briefings and information” in the run-up to and during the Geneva talks, which was hosted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the foreign ministers of Turkey, Greece and the UK.

The CTP said that when the Greek Cypriot press had leaked the Turkish Cypriot side’s six-point proposals in Geneva and asked President Tatar if the reports were true, he had told them they were not.

The CTP said they later heard from the press that the leaked document was in fact genuine.

Speaking on the steps of the Parliament following the private meeting with MPs, Mr Tatar said: “I emphasised that an agreement can be reached with the equal international status and the cooperative relationship of the two states in Cyprus that coexist side-byside, on the basis of sovereign equality.”

Reacting to the criticism of opposition parties that he did not brief them before travelling to Switzerland, Mr Tatar commented: “It was not possible for me to brief Parliament prior to Geneva due to the extraordinary conditions arising from Covid-19. . . the deferred meeting has been held today. I did brief political party officials at the Presidency.”

Mr Tatar said that there is a “completely different conjuncture and situation in Cyprus” and that a “new political will has come about” following his election as President last October.

“This [two-state] vision is fully backed by Turkey. My political view and objective is to allow the Turkish Cypriot people to live in peace, prosperity, happiness and security,” he said.

Referring to the six-point plan he put forward in Geneva to achieve a two-state solution, Mr Tatar said: “These proposals are nothing new. There is nothing different to what I have been saying for the past year.

“I have always taken a two-state settlement as a basis. The six-point [plan] . . . was a summary of what I had read out [in Geneva] in order to make it easier for the UN and the respective guarantor States to understand. . .that page was photographed by the Greek Cypriot side and passed on to the Greek Cypriot press. We have nothing to hide.”

Mr Tatar said that the “UN and all sides and the guarantor states have taken note of our position and . . . why negotiations for a federal settlement have been exhausted”.

Evaluating the President’s briefing, Social Democracy Party leader Cemal Özyiğit said: “President Tatar has not said anything that is not known by the public. Mr Tatar has repeated what Ankara has made him memorise.

“We were able to convey to him why he was elected and not Mustafa Akıncı. The sixpoint proposal will have no validity. Seeking recognition has no meaning.”

Peoples’ Party leader Kudret Özersay said the meeting with Mr Tatar was “late and should have taken place prior to going to Geneva”, adding: “We did not hear anything new. We have, however, made a warning on the need to have social unity.

“We conveyed our criticism as to how the execution and management of the process has not been handled well. . . we put forward our views for steps to be taken for . . . cooperation [with the Greek Cypriot side] in terms of trade, economics, transportation and the ports. . .steps to be taken that will help the Turkish Cypriots breathe.”

MP Faiz Sucuoğlu of the National Unity Party, the main partner of the three-party coalition government, said Mr Tatar’s briefing was “productive”.

“The Turkish Cypriot side and Republic of Turkey have put forward sovereign equality as a basis in the negotiations,” he said. “The meetings can continue. We will have to see if common ground can be reached.”