President Tatar received Wendy Morton

President Ersin Tatar received the British Under-Secretary of State for European Neighbourhood and the Americas, Wendy Morton.

Following the meeting Tatar made a statement to the press and noted that Morton also confirmed that the views of both sides are very important for a fair and lasting agreement to be made in Cyprus.

Mentioning that Morton said that, as a guarantor country, the UK will take part at the meeting in Geneva and that they also have some initiatives to put forward at the meeting, Tatar said that with the cooperation of two independent states living side by side in Cyprus based on sovereign equality there could be a fair, permanent and sustainable agreement and that up to the present time they indicated the process of their politics from the very beginning.

Expressing that the UK transferred its sovereignty to two different peoples, to both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, in 1960, Tatar said, “I had the opportunity to tell her once again how this came to life with various documents.”

Emphasising that the UK as a guarantor country, knows the Cyprus issue best, Tatar also stated that the UK has great responsibilities due to it being a guarantor country, and added, “The injustices to the Turkish Cypriots since 1963 and the isolations, restrictions and other injustices imposed on North Cyprus should be reviewed, especially as we said ‘yes’ in the Annan Plan period. They were supposed to be lifted and some relief brought to the Turkish Cypriots and this was presented to the UN Security Council, but no result could be obtained.”

Stating that they discussed why they defend the two states and why it should be so, with all the details, Tatar said that Morton expressed that there may be some different initiatives before Geneva and that there is great preparation for Geneva and that everyone should show some flexibility in order to achieve a result at the meeting.

Tatar also stated that despite all these facts, they expressed their desire to do everything they can for a fair, permanent and sustainable agreement in Cyprus through negotiations, and that it is now extremely important for them to keep sovereignty and their state alive, therefore all this should be taken into consideration in the process of an agreement. He noted that they will attend the meeting upon the call of the UN, they will express these points clearly at the table and that they had evaluated the situation with Morton.