‘WE CAN’T AFFORD ANOTHER FAILURE’
PRESIDENT ERSİN TATAR CALLS ON UN SECRETARY-GENERAL’S PERSONAL ENVOY TO WRITE REPORT BASED ON ‘FACTUAL REALITIES ON THE GROUND’
TURKISH Cypriots cannot afford to waste time and effort on another failed round of formal negotiations on the Cyprus issue, President Ersin Tatar told the Cyprus personal envoy of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
In a meeting held at his presidential office in Lefkoşa, Tatar made his message clear to Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, whose mission is to explore whether or not “common ground” exists for a new and official negotiation process between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots.
Speaking to the media after the one hour meeting, Tatar underscored that without such common ground, restarting a negotiation process would be futile, saying: “I have stated to Ms Holguin the position of the Turkish Cypriot side, thanked her for all her efforts to explore whether or not common ground exists between the sides, and [expressed] our expectation for an objective report. . . We are not in a position to invest in another failure. I have shared my assessment on what needs to be done.”
Drawing attention to the impending conclusion of Holguin’s sixth-month term on July 5, Tatar added: “I will not succumb to any kind of pressure to drag the issue somewhere else. . .to bring the leaders together. . . to create a dialogue between the leaders.”
Stating that the new policy put forth by the Turkish Cypriot side in Geneva three years ago continues and that Türkiye fully supports it, Tatar said that in his assessment with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, with whom he went to The Gambia recently (see page 2), they held firm on their stance that negotiations can only start with the acceptance of the inherent rights of the Turkish Cypriot people and reiterated that they would not step back.
“I conveyed to the UN that there is no change in our stance,” Tatar stressed. “I once again expressed to Holguin our stance that negotiations can only be initiated with the confirmation of sovereign equality and equal international status.”
Tatar also pointed out that although South Cyprus said “No” to the “Annan Plan” to unite the island in 2004, it was unilaterally admitted to the European Union, and that the Greek Cypriot side cannot even tolerate Turkish Cypriots meeting with other world leaders.
Tatar also stated that ahead of his visit to The Gambia to attend the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation 15th Heads of State and Government Summit, Greek Cypriot officials had made attempts to prevent the Turkish Cypriot side’s work and talks there.
“They are doing the same thing to the Turkic world,” he said. “With this mentality, at which table will we sit and what will we solve?
“Sitting at the table does not solve anything; the main thing is to change the mentality.”
Stating that he put forward these issues in his meeting with Holguin, who he will meet again on Monday, Tatar said: “If a common ground cannot be found between the sides, there is no point in meeting and starting talks again.”
Tatar noted that the Colombian diplomat should place importance on all of these concerns and called on her to “write the truth” in the report that she will put together.
“After completing her six months and having had the chance to see the injustices done to the Turkish Cypriot people onsite and in a detailed manner, she will present the essence and details of the Cyprus issue one month later. Therefore if a fair report is to emerge, all these must be expressed in it,” he underscored.
“If a settlement is going to be found, this must not be through any sort of pressure, it has to be mutually acceptable and freely negotiated . . . in accordance with UN practices.”
‘RESPONSIBILITY OF THE LEADERS’
Holguin, speaking after a meeting earlier in the day with Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides, suggested that she has established the existence of common ground.
Referring to the “many, many meetings” she has been holding since January with civil society and business groups and young people on both sides of Cyprus, she said: “My impression is [that] everybody wants to move forward and to have something happening on the island. And I hope that the leaders [are] listening to [the] people and listening to the civil society. . . and I think that the common ground is in the civil society, but we have to move to the leaders and ask them to move forward.”
Holguin referred to visits she has also undertaken to Europe, Moscow and Washington DC, where the international community offered its support for a “lasting decision” on Cyprus.
“I hope that the leaders just see the support of the international community to move forward.”
Speaking separately after her meeting with Tatar, Holguin said it was a “very constructive conversation”.
“He just reiterated his position, I told him about my travel to some countries and the international community’s support [for a] lasting solution of the Cyprus [issue],” she said, adding: “Everybody wants to move forward, in the whole island. So now it’s the responsibility of the leaders to do something and I hope they can listen [to] the people.”
Meanwhile main opposition Republican Turkish Party leader Turfan Erhürman criticised Tatar’s refusal to engage in “dialogue” with Christodoulides under the auspices of the UN.
The stance has led to the Turkish Cypriot people being seen as the “side that does not want a solution” in the eyes of the international community, Erhürman said.