"There has been insufficient preparation either for a 2+1 meeting between the two leaders and the UN Secretary-General or for a 5+1 meeting involving the guarantor countries," the Turkish Cypriot leader, Tufan Erhurman, said on Saturday, noting that no progress had been made on any issue in New York. He did, however, express readiness to address six of the seven points outlined by the Secretary-General before he left Cyprus last July, noting that disagreement remains regarding the opening of new crossing points.
Speaking to the Turkish news agency ANKA and Yusuf Kanli about his meetings in New York, Mr. Erciyaman said that President Christodoulides had raised the request for a 2+1 meeting during his meeting with the UN Secretary-General, and that this request had been conveyed to him through the Personal Envoy, Maria Angela Olgin. The Turkish Cypriot leader noted that he asked (Ms. Olgin) whether the Greek Cypriot side had committed to substantive progress, but did not receive a positive response. He reiterated his opposition to holding meetings without a basis for progress, given—as he argued—that Ms. Olgin’s assessment was also negative.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
“The intention was to create the impression that there was a reason and a basis for such a meeting, and we rejected it. We didn’t fall for that ploy. The Secretary-General and his Envoy saw that there was no progress, nor any intention to make progress. We do not hold meetings just for the sake of holding meetings,” he continued.
Mr. Erhurman also noted that in New York, negotiators from both sides—Mehmet Dana and Menelaos Menelaou— met with UN Deputy Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo and Ms. Olgin, but no progress was made on any issue during those meetings.
On 2+1 and 5+1
The Turkish Cypriot leader stated that the Turkish Cypriot side is open to both the 2+1 and 5+1 formats of meetings, but emphasized that preparation and concrete progress in Nicosia are essential for these meetings to yield results.
He added that Mr. Guterres wants progress on the MOEs, the negotiation method, and substantive issues before a new meeting is convened. He noted that an unprepared meeting could lead to a repeat of the unsuccessful processes of the past, saying that lessons learned from the Annan Plan process of 2004 through the 2017 Crans-Montana talks.
MOE
The report states that among the measures proposed by the UN Secretary-General are the opening of new crossing points, demining, the creation of a joint disaster response mechanism, cooperation in combating irregular migration, the development of ties in the field of sports, the resolution of issues related to EU citizenship for children born to mixed marriages, and the functioning of civil society institutions.
Tufan Erhurman stated that the Turkish Cypriot side is ready to reach an agreement on six of these points, but disagreement continues regarding the opening of new crossing points. The disagreement over the crossing points, he said, centers on the routing and whether the proposals will be considered jointly. He added that since no progress could be made on the seven points, the Greek Cypriot side presented a 19-point package.
Mr. Erhurman added that the JSCs require not only the creation of new areas of cooperation but also the avoidance of steps that could erode trust. He cited as examples the attempts to cancel two festivals and the Barcelona soccer academy’s youth camp, allegations of interference in the contacts of Mehmet Dana’s representative in the buffer zone, and the European Parliament’s resolutions.
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Source: CNA
