According to the illegal BRTK (06.09.22 brtk.net), Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar stated that he will not meet with President Anastasiades during the UN session in New York, but he will meet, he said, with the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres.
In his exclusive statements during his participation in an NTV television program in Turkey, Tatar assessed the Cyprus issue, developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and Greece's "violations" in the Aegean.
Underlining that there is no scheduled meeting with the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades while they are in New York for the UN General Assembly, Tatar argued that there is no point in meeting with him, since President Anastasiades will not be a candidate in the Presidential Elections that they will take place in "southern" Cyprus, as he called the Republic of Cyprus. "The important thing is, together with the Turkish Republic, to give the image to the world that there are two peoples in Cyprus," he asserted.
Tatar added the following: "The Greek Cypriot leader will meet with the UN Secretary General. I will also have a meeting with him, but this time the meetings are expected to be separate. Last year, we held a tripartite meeting in New York, but the Greek Cypriot leader will not run for election. In February, someone else will be elected, so a tripartite meeting would not have any substance. After all, the confidence building measures they submitted to us cannot be accepted. All these (he means the MOUs of the Greek Cypriot side), are a series of proposals that are full of traps for us, since they aim at reaching an agreement on the basis of a federation and the transformation of the Republic of Cyprus into a Hellenic Republic in which northern Cyprus will be expanded, under its administration. It is not possible for us to accept these," he asserted.
Referring to the proposals of the Turkish Cypriot side based on the cooperation of the "two states", Tatar reminded that this is now their new policy and said that they have definitively admitted that they are not going to lead to a final solution to the Cyprus issue for a federal Republic that will is a continuation of the Republic of Cyprus.
"How they perceive this agreement on a federation basis is far from how we perceive it. Because their own perception is the Federated Republic of Cyprus, where the Turkish Cypriots will become a minority there. We are not going to accept an agreement that will abolish Turkey's guarantee rights, and in which, over time, the Turkish Republic, which will be outside the EU, will have zero army and zero guarantees. We, before 1974, experienced a lot of pain and went through genocide," Tatar claimed.
Referring to his move to New York, Tatar said he would be accompanied by "Foreign Minister" Tahsin Ertugruloglu and a delegation. He also added that they will attend the speech of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the UN and will also hold bilateral contacts.
Evaluating the "request of the Greek Cypriot administration from the UN for the appointment of an official", Tatar claimed the following: "Last year, during our contacts in New York, we conveyed the position that the person who would be appointed to the position of Jane Lute, should be personal envoy of the UN Secretary General. Now, following pressure from the Greek Cypriots, the person to be appointed will be a special envoy. And the trap here is this: in the case of the special envoy, then he reports to the UN Secretary-General and will have as his counterpart the members of the Security Council. And we had definitively said that the person you appoint should absolutely be a personal envoy of the UN Secretary General. Various difficulties arise for us when the Security Council is also involved," Tatar said.
Repeating his well-known position that there are "two separate peoples" in Cyprus, Tatar added that "Turkish Cypriots are marching as always with the Turkish Republic on the issue of the national issue of Cyprus. No one can sever our ancient ties," he asserted.
Referring to the issue of tension over drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, Tatar reiterated that they will continue their energy activities in the Mediterranean together with Turkey. "We may also drill in the areas they do. There are points that Turkey also claims. In the areas under the jurisdiction of the Greek Cypriots, TRNC citizens also have rights. It is a completely stupid thing to claim so many rights on a small island. There are challenges but no one is in favor of a conflict. Therefore, it would be in everyone's interest to make a settlement on the basis of logic. May brotherly countries and Great Powers evaluate all this," he added.
Answering a related question regarding "Greece's violations in the Aegean", Tatar replied that Greece is lying if it thinks it has equal status with Turkey. "Turkey will respond in the most appropriate way to Greece's violations," he asserted.