President Tatar: “Our wish and intention is to achieve the formula of two states.”

President Ersin Tatar said: “Our wish and intention is to live side by side and in co-operation with the formula of two states in Cyprus and manage this process in consultation with Turkey by putting  forward our own thoughts and views and revealing our expectations with the assessment to be held at the five-party conference”

President Ersin Tatar made a statement to the press at the Presidency following the informal meeting he held with the Greek Cypriot Administration Leader Nikos Anastasiades yesterday evening (3/11/2020) in the buffer zone.

Tatar stated that they left the meeting within the framework of good will without being offensive and said:

“The Turkish Cypriot side again showed its goodwill and demonstrated that it can do its part to manage the process accordingly. This is a common case. It is a national case that Turkish Cypriots have continued with the Republic of Turkey for many years.” Stating that he met with the Greek Cypriot Leader Nikos Anastasiades, under the supervision of the UN, and that it was an informal meeting, President Tatar said that various issues were discussed at the meeting without going into too much detail.

Emphasising that there was a letter written by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and that he expressed his views on the issue, President Tatar stated that he expressed the realities of Cyprus, the approval and authority he received from the public and that new expectations have arisen in this direction.

Stating that an understanding of the federal basis that has been maintained since 1977 does not give much hope for the Turkish Cypriot people and therefore it is time to negotiate with new ideas, President Tatar stated that as time goes on, the Turkish Cypriot side has put forward its will to meet these expectations and in order to take this issue further they support a quintet conference at a time deemed appropriate by the UN  Secretary General and Tatar stressed that managing the process in this way was discussed at the meeting.

Reminding that the idea of a quintet conference came from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Tatar indicated that this issue was also included in the UN letter and added that also the leader of the Greek Cypriot Administration, Nikos Anastasiades, expressed his sympathy for this.

Tatar also stated that the issues of Varosha, hydrocarbon, embargoes and the unacceptable isolations imposed on Turkish Cypriots which are against human rights, were also discussed at the meeting.

President Ersin Tatar indicated that the ground for an agreement on a federal basis does not give much hope after the events in Crans Montana, and stated that he put forward the position of the Turkish Cypriots, without being too offensive, and that only the framework was discussed.

President Tatar thanked the UN for the meeting and said “The next process will be clarified at the quintet conference”.