TATAR BLASTS CBM PROPOSALS
PRESIDENT: THIS IS ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO EXPLOIT THE CBMS, ULTIMATELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF BRINGING THE TURKISH CYPRIOT PEOPLE UNDER [GREEK CYPRIOT] AUTHORITY AND DOMINATION
WITH talks to solve the Cyprus Problem in long-term stagnation, TRNC President Ersin Tatar has released a statement attacking the ‘Confidence Building Measures’ (CBM) between the two sides which have been proposed by the Greek Cypriot Administration.
The proposed CBMs include the transfer of Ercan airport to the jurisdiction of the United Nations (UN) in order that it open for international flights outside of Turkey, the placing of customs authority at the port of Gazimağusa under the authority of the European Union, and the “surrender”, as it was put by Greek Cypriot foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides, of Maraş to UN control.
CBMs have been used in the past as ways to break down physical and legal barriers between Cyprus’ two sides in order to bring them metaphorically closer together, but President Tatar has said that the latest CBMs proposed by the Greek Cypriot leadership are “nothing but old proposals that have been repeatedly negotiated and exhausted, like the failed negotiations for a federal settlement in Cyprus”.
President Tatar was quick to point out in his statement that “it was the Greek Cypriot side that rejected all CBM packages, as well as all comprehensive settlement proposals made in the past, either by or through the UN”, insinuating that the Greek Cypriot Administration’s new-found enthusiasm for CBMs is disingenuous.
He reiterated this point later in the statement, calling the CBM proposals “another attempt to exploit the CBMs, ultimately for the purpose of bringing the Turkish Cypriot people under [Greek Cypriot] authority and domination”.
Continuing his statement, President Tatar accused the Greek Cypriot leadership of trying to “force the Turkish Cypriot side to compromise from its vested inherent sovereign equality rights”, and added that “the Greek Cypriot leadership has adopted an approach aimed at concealing their intransigent attitude” to the Cyprus Problem. He later called the proposals “unacceptable” and claimed that they “violate” the rights of Turkish Cypriots and are “aimed at perpetuating the status quo and reinforcing the claim of the Greek Cypriot side that it is the sole sovereign [people] of the island”.
In addition to attacking the proposals made by the Greek Cypriot Administration, President Tatar pointed out that “CBMs should be mutually agreed, mutually beneficial, respect the equality of the two sides and not involve or imply the extension of one side’s authority over the other”. He cited an example of a proposal which he believes fulfils the aforementioned definition of a CBM, which was made by his predecessor as President, Mustafa Akıncı, in 2019.
Former President Akıncı had proposed the formation of a joint energy committee between Cyprus’ two sides, which would administer the exploration for and extraction of natural gas, after reserves had been found in the waters off Cyprus.
The proposal was rejected by the Greek Cypriot side at the time, but President Tatar confirmed in his statement that the proposal is still “on the table”, and stated that “if the Greek Cypriot side is sincere in its objective in building confidence, it should give serious consideration to the formation of a joint mechanism that is based on equality and envisages joint decision making on all procedures in relation to said resources”.
President Tatar concluded his statement by saying that “the Turkish Cypriot side is determined to continue its constructive stance towards establishing cooperation mechanisms that will be of mutual benefit to both sides on the basis of the consent and equality of the two sides, by adding new and more comprehensive ones to those that have already been realised during the past year”.