The informal expanded meeting could take place on March 17-18 in Geneva, Ersin Tatar said in statements after the one-and-a-half-hour meeting with UN Deputy Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo, who he added "asked for our approval." "We told her that we can participate in such a meeting on that date. And of course there will be preparation before then," he said.
The Turkish Cypriot leader stated that it was his own proposal for a meeting in the presence of the two sides, two guarantor countries Turkey - Greece and the UN, saying that the presence of the UK also later emerged, but at a low-level level.
"We stated that we can talk and discuss any issue with them, but of course our views remain the same. Because ultimately there are two sides in Cyprus, two sovereign peoples, two states" and if they are going to take serious steps towards a constructive solution to the Cyprus problem and the start of formal negotiations, he argued, there are the conditions he has set for the confirmation of sovereign equality and equal international status. "We will continue to state this position of ours," he said.
He also reiterated that there are inherent rights of the Turkish Cypriots that stem from the international agreements for the establishment of the Turkish Cypriot Community.
Mr. Tatar spoke of "embargoes, isolations and a whole bunch of restrictions" that supposedly continue to be applied against the Turkish Cypriots. A person born in 1974 is 50 years old today and has a grandchild, he said, and these generations are "still paying the price" because the other side - he continued - wants to pressure the Turkish Cypriots for a solution. This, he declared, they are not going to accept, a solution by force.
He again referred to the 1964 resolution, which is anachronistic, as he argued, saying that in the meantime 60 years have passed and the Greek Cypriots rejected the Annan solution plan in 2004, while the Turkish Cypriots accepted it, but it is the Turkish Cypriots who still remain in isolation.
According to Mr. Tatar, this is an unacceptable situation and the UN, as well as the other countries related to the Cyprus problem, must now proceed with openings, as described in the Holguin report of last July, for the 3 A's, direct contacts, flights and trade. "If this is done, then the official negotiations can begin. I had the opportunity to explain it in detail. And she herself noted it," he said.
Mr. Tatar added that he told Ms. DiCarlo that cooperation between the two sides "on various issues as two equal parties" is important, such as natural gas, electricity, tourism, but also various economic issues.
At the informal dinner on October 15, 2024, in New York, they discussed the issue of roadblocks, and he raised it with Ms. DiCarlo today, repeating his proposal to open a roadblock at Mia Milia and Louroudzina.
65% of the crossings from the 9 crossing points today, he said, are made through Agios Dometios, where there are long queues both in the morning and in the evening.
The Greek Cypriot side, Mr. Tatar continued, evading the framework set at the October 15 dinner, is asking for transit passages, "that is, from south to south, through some territories of the TRNC, and this cannot be accepted because it is not a roadblock."
He also said that he mentioned to the UN official the difficulties that exist in the Pyla issue, saying that there is development south of Pyla and all the way to Larnaca. In order to address, he said, the problems of the Turkish Cypriots who live in the village and have to pass through the Bases and the Pergamous roadblock to cross into the occupied territories, they brought to the fore the Arsos-Pyla road.
The Turkish Cypriot leader said that work on the road has been completed along a 10 km stretch and 1,5 km remains. In return, he continued, the Greek Cypriots are demanding that 400 Greek Cypriot homes be settled in an area of the buffer zone that belongs to the Turkish Cypriots. This, he said, they will not accept.
The Turkish Cypriot leader said that there can be cooperation, until a definitive solution is found, on different issues, claiming that the Turkish Cypriot side has good intentions, but unfortunately, the other side continues to insist on not accepting "the principles of the TRNC, therefore no cooperation can be achieved."
The "principles of the TRNC", as Ms. DiCarlo saw them, exist here, Mr. Tatar argued, and this "state" that exists will continue to exist.
Ersin Tatar also said that he mentioned to the UN official the issue of children of mixed marriages, saying that there are people of Turkish origin who were born after 1974 in the occupied territories and cannot cross over to the Greek Cypriot side. "I told her that it is not possible to understand this in the times we live in," he added.
He saw her, said Mr. Tatar, surprised by this, saying that she should now explain "to the other side in the appropriate language, because in our time, people who were born and raised in the TRNC cannot go to southern Cyprus. Maybe she herself will now understand the problem at the core of the Cyprus problem."
In conclusion, he reiterated that he will be at the informal multilateral meeting in Geneva on March 17-18 and described his meeting with Rosemary DiCarlo as constructive.
Source: KYPE
