President Tatar departs for New York

President Ersin Tatar departed from the island yesterday for the United States of America (USA) to hold a meeting with the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tomorrow.

Making a press statement at the Ercan Airport, Tatar stated that he would first travel to Washington via Istanbul and following his meetings, he would travel to New York tomorrow to meet with UN Secretary-General Guterres.

President Tatar said that negotiations can be started when the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot Side has been reaffirmed and acknowledged. President Tatar also reiterated that if there is to be a just, viable and sustainable settlement in Cyprus, it has to be on a two State basis.

Prior to his visit to New York to meet with Guterres, President Tatar will hold a series of meetings in Washington.

Special Representative Güneş Onar accompanies President Tatar during his visit.

Tatar mentioned that they emphasized the need to put a new process on the agenda and he also ruled out the possibility of resuming talks from where they left off in Crans Montana in 2017.

Pointing out that the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, was appointed for a period not exceeding six months, Tatar said, “Our approval depended on this” and noted that an open-ended process would not be right.

Noting that Cuellar is currently holding contacts in Washington, Tatar said that the Personal Envoy will be visiting the parties for the third time in April.

The President stressed that they will express to the UN Secretary-General that there will be no going back from the policy that has been pursued for three years, noting that Guterres’ opinion on whether there is common ground exists or not will be formed with the research to be carried out by his Personal Envoy.

Tatar added: “It is clear that there is no common ground so far,” noting that the other side wants the bi-zonal, bi-communal federation talks to start from where they left off in Crans Montana.

Stating that a delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye was in the TRNC yesterday and that they held talks, Tatar stated that Türkiye is fully behind the new policy.

Speaking about the “promises made by numerous international actors to end the unjust isolation imposed on the Turkish Cypriots during the UN Comprehensive Settlement Annan Plan period of 2004,” President Tatar said: “This injustice, this persecution which has absolutely no justification, must be ended.”