On Saturday, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Tufan Erhurman, saying that the new proposals from the Greek Cypriot side at the leaders’ most recent meeting could divert attention from the main focus.
After concluding his meeting with the UN Secretary-General in New York tonight—which lasted about 40 minutes—Mr. Erhurman spoke live on the unauthorized “Bayrak,” Mr. Erhurman said that they (the UN) are also focusing on the MOEs, noting that the 7-meter zone includes new crossing points, demining, a joint disaster response mechanism, a joint mechanism to combat irregular migration, a coordination council with civil society, sports, and the right of children from mixed marriages to EU citizenship. The Turkish Cypriot leader said he considers the last two issues to be very important.
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He reiterated that he had informed the UN Secretary-General during their meeting in occupied Nicosia that he accepts six of these seven points, with the exception of the new crossing points. He made the same statement at the trilateral meeting held in Nicosia between the two leaders and the UN Secretary-General.
MOE and Guterres’ 7 Points
“As for the proposals presented regarding the crossing points, we said that it is worth working on them—that is, we did not reject them, but accepting them as they stand is out of the question. However, it is worth working on them. To date, however, the Greek Cypriot side has said nothing about accepting six of these seven proposals, excluding the crossing points,” he said.
Instead, he continued, the Greek Cypriot side presented a new proposal at the last meeting of the leaders in Nicosia, before their trip to New York, consisting of 19 points, even stating that “we didn’t count 19, but let’s say 19 points.” “However, our position is as follows: there are seven confidence-building measures proposed by the Secretary-General during his visit to the island. Six of them have already been accepted by our side,” he added.
Noting that time is limited because Mr. Guterres’s term is ending very soon, Mr. Erhurman said that the Turkish Cypriot side favored focusing on the implementation of the seven points proposed by Guterres. Expanding the current agenda and diverting attention to new issues would make it difficult to achieve results, he said, adding that he conveyed the following approach to Mr. Guterres: “Let’s focus on these seven points and try to find solutions to them.”
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He also reiterated that instead of fostering a climate of trust—as requested by the Secretary-General—actions are being taken that, in his words, — such as the cancellation of the two festivals, the cancellation of the Barcelona Academy’s youth camp, and the European arrest warrants related to property issues. He said he raised these issues during his meeting with the UN Secretary-General.
He also spoke of a setback regarding the acceptance of the “immovable property commission” as an effective domestic legal remedy, and referred to the European Parliament resolutions “initiated by arrogant Greek Cypriot MEPs” that are “biased in every respect.” “And of course, there are a number of agreements that have been signed internationally, mainly with Israel and other countries,” he said.
It is as if there were no Turkish Cypriots on the island at all, and if a danger arises, it will affect not only the Greek Cypriots but also the Turkish Cypriots, he added, arguing that all of this does not help the efforts of the Secretary-General, who stated that he will work tirelessly until the end of December.
Statements to the Press
Tufan Erhürman said that during his three days in New York, he chose not to make statements to the media because he does not favor negotiations or discussions through the press “as something compatible with seriousness or good faith. And we have been very patient on this issue.” He added that he chose not to speak even about serious issues discussed by both sides, such as the title of “mayor” of Nicosia, Mehmet Harmanci, with the thought that “perhaps some result will emerge, perhaps a step forward will be taken” in New York.
The Greek Cypriot side’s approach, he noted, is to issue statements every day, and he argued that there was an attempt to create the impression based “on the idea that we rejected the 2+1 meeting.” He recalled that the Secretary-General recently stated that there is still much work to be done and that there was no possibility of a 2+1 or 5+1 meeting in New York.
He claimed that while he was in New York, the Greek Cypriot side attempted in writing to prevent their contacts with representatives of the international community, through the Security Council and the UN. “This was a written attempt to prevent us from cooperating with any of our counterparts here,” he said. He recalled that something similar had happened when his representative, Mehmet Dana, was about to meet with foreign diplomats in the buffer zone in Nicosia following Guterres’s visit to the island.
“The same obstructive approach was evident here in New York as well. We conveyed to the Secretary-General that these are examples of what we call actions and procedures that erode trust. Of course, this was not successful in Nicosia, nor was it successful here. As you know, Mehmet Dana held meetings here with representatives from various countries, primarily those that are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, such as Russia and France,” he added.
He also said he had meetings with the secretaries-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Organization of Turkic States. The Greek Cypriot side, he added, prefers—when it comes to the Cyprus issue—to explain only its own positions to the international community and to put obstacles in our way.
Concrete Progress on the 5+1 Format
He also said he agrees with a previous statement by the UN Secretary-General that the mistakes of the past must not be repeated. “This time it must be different. The mistakes of the past must not be repeated.” He reiterated that holding another 5+1 meeting without substantive progress would not be appropriate.
He added that, as in previous processes, simply holding a meeting is not enough. The meeting must be grounded in a framework that will yield concrete progress.
If something “results-oriented” had emerged in New York, he added, then the Secretary-General would have wanted a 2+1 meeting to take place, but nothing of the sort emerged.
Mr. Erhurman noted that Mr. Guterres informed them that he would continue to engage with and work on the Cyprus issue until the end of December, with the Turkish CypriotTurkish Cypriot leader emphasizing the importance of creating an environment conducive to the Secretary-General’s efforts.
Responding to a question from the program’s host regarding the Secretary-General’s stance on the MOUs, Mr. Erhurman said that Mr. Guterres expected progress and had very clearly expressed his expectation for progress on the MOEs right from the start of the meeting.
A statement from the “presidency” notes that present at the meeting with the Secretary-General, along with Mr. Erhurman, were his special representative, Mehmet Dana, the “representative” of the pseudo-state in New York, Murat Soysal; the coordinator for Confidence-Building Measures and Technical Committees, Senih Birand Cinar, and his advisor on diplomatic affairs, Ipek Borman.
Source: CNA
