TRNC Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu said “We do not expect much from the UN. It is also obvious that the UN has not solved any political problem so far” on the role of the United Nations (UN) in the resolution of the Cyprus problem.
Ertuğruloğlu explained the stance of the TRNC to the press members in Washington DC, following the meetings of TRNC President Ersin Tatar with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Greek Cypriot Administration leader Nikos Anastasiades in New York.
Stating that Guterres concluded that there was no common ground after the meeting held in Geneva in April, but did not report this result to the UN Security Council (UNSC) and said that a second meeting would be held, Ertuğruloğlu emphasised that this meeting did not take place despite the passage of 6 months.
Noting that Guterres is currently planning to appoint a personal envoy in respect of the Cyprus issue and that this envoy will investigate whether there is a common ground, Ertuğruloğlu said “Now, in my opinion, this is a tactic of the Secretary General playing for time, and he knows that there is still no common ground. If he holds the 5+ UN meeting soon, he will have to state the result he said he wouldn’t announce at the first meeting. He doesn’t seem very willing to do that either. So he’s playing for time.”
Ertuğruloğlu added “There’s no common ground, and there’s no way for me either. In order to have common ground, the parties must take a step back in their positions, neither do we have the luxury to step back nor do the Greek Cypriots have such an intention”.
Pointing out that the Greek Cypriots will not take a step back as long as the world sees Southern Cyprus the “Republic of Cyprus”, Ertuğruloğlu noted that Guterres should inform the UNSC as soon as possible that there is no common ground, and that the UNSC should also take a decision.
Ertuğruloğlu continued as follows:
“They should be well aware that as long as the Greek Cypriot side is treated as the ‘state’ and we are treated as the ‘society’, it is out of question to re-start the negotiation processes or to enter a new negotiation process. They may not recognise the TRNC, but the fact that it is not recognised does not mean that the TRNC does not exist. The TRNC exists, it is reality. Whether it is recognised or not is another matter, but the policy of ‘There is only one state on the Island’ should be abandoned. There are two states on the Island. Everyone should know that unless there is real ground and unless the new negotiation process is not made between two states, there will be no negotiation process.”
Pointing out that the world has always put the Cyprus problem into the background, Ertuğruloğlu said “We open a new page on the Cyprus issue by openly saying that our only option is not partnership with the Greek Cypriots, but that we have other options”.
Emphasising the need to clarify exactly what the Cyprus problem is, Ertuğruloğlu said, “The Cyprus problem is precisely the recognition of the Greek Cypriot side as the ‘Republic of Cyprus’. The Cyprus problem is a status problem. It is the fact that the Greek Cypriots continue on their way with an illegal status that they do not deserve. Being treated with a treatment that we do not deserve is being subjected to a status.”
Describing that the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus came to the Island in 1964, referring to a Cyprus government that did not actually exist, but did not relieve the pain of the Turkish Cypriots, Ertuğruloğlu said, “Therefore, we do not expect much from the UN. It is also obvious that the UN has not solved any political problem so far. Therefore, we have to patiently continue our resistance and struggle against those who try to commit the Turkish Cypriots to images that will put the Turkish Cypriots under the yoke of the Greek Cypriots by pushing us into the psychology of guilt and discouraging us from our rightful cause. There is no turning back from this path”.