Özersay: “It’s time to face reality”

Stating that the parties have no common ground and vision for the future of Cyprus, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Kudret Özersay said that the Greek Cypriot side had proved themselves. Ignoring this and refusing to reflect this in the UN report will not change the truth. If the UN representatives become more realistic, we can reach a better result.

At the meeting of the General Assembly held yesterday (9th April), the Cyprus issue was also on the agenda. Özersay said that the UN made a statement and said that the UN will not “pull a rabbit out of the hat” with the Cyprus report and added that there would not be a better example showing the fact that they did not take the process seriously.

Pointing out that during the period when he was the negotiator, 6-7 different opinions were brought to the agenda and that they were working on these issues together with the UN expert as the Turkish Cypriot side, Özersay said that we have explained that the idea of rotating Prime Ministry does not serve political equality. The Turkish Cypriots may be the head of the government, but the appearance of being a Greek Cypriot state will inevitably stand out. The political experience of the Turkish Cypriots, the history and the reality of the Republic of 1960 is obvious.

Reiterating his call to the UN representatives, Özersay said that they must tell the truth boldly, not after the mission has been delivered or retired. If this report will not be approved due to the balances in the Security Council, let it be not approved. The report was also not approved in 2004, but it didn’t change the fact that the reality was determined.

“There is no common ground among the parties, the Greek Cypriots are not able to accept the political equality of the Turkish Cypriots, and they are not ready to share the administration and wealth. We cannot ignore the half-century facts” Özersay said.

Evaluating the UN Secretary General’s Temporary Special Envoy on Cyprus Jane Holl Lute, Özersay said: “The UN Secretary-General authorized Lute in order to monitor the pulse and prepare the report, not to transfer ideas between the parties. Both the Turkish Cypriot side and Turkey reminded this to Lute. To achieve this with 2-3 meetings would be reasonable. It was not realistic for these talks to spread over time.

Özersay added that the process has helped to make sure that there is no common ground between the parties.

Speaking about the Guterres Report, and adding that this document was a step in a certain phase of the negotiation, Özersay said that the Greek Cypriot side claimed that there was more than one document. There was not more than one document, but the Greek Cypriot side claimed this to harm the process. At this point there is no need to talk about this text which has more than one meaning.