The Turkish Cypriot leader, Tufan Erhurman, commenting on reports published by Greek Cypriot media regarding the Turkish Cypriot side’s stance on this document.
Mr. Erhurman stated in a post after midnight that, as a rule, he tries not to respond to such news reports, especially late at night, “but it seems we have entered a new phase,” and he wants to preempt certain questions that might be posed to him.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
In reality, this isn’t so much a response as it is information he’s providing, he wrote, noting that in the interview with ANKA and Yusuf Kanli published on September 28, Ms. Olgin was asked whether the UN had completed its review of previous agreements, whether the same unified document would be provided to both sides, and how they would prevent its selective interpretation, which could lead to a new dispute.
Mr. Erhurman quotes Ms. Olgin’s response verbatim as follows: “The convergence meetings constitute a single body of work based on joint documents submitted to the UN by both sides between 2015 and 2017. The UN has also reviewed other documents in its archives that reflect previous efforts. “The document that comes closest to a record of the points of convergence is precisely the joint documents from the 2015–2017 period.”
Ms. Olgin goes on to state, as Mr. Erhurman notes, that “it is difficult to prevent a new conflict from arising in Cyprus. Unfortunately, there is always a reason to keep a dispute open. I understand that. People often tell me that things have always been done this way. But perhaps we should consider this: if things have always been done this way, that may be precisely why little progress has been made to date. Therefore, the document will be submitted once negotiations begin. Submitting it earlier would create a new point of contention.”
Source: CNA
