President Ersin Tatar has received the Special Representative of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General in Cyprus and Head of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), Colin Stewart, yesterday (22/02/2023).

Mr. Stewart visited President Tatar yesterday ahead of the informal meeting of President Ersin Tatar and the newly elected Leader of the Greek Cypriot Administration Nikos Christodoulidis, today.

Tatar and Christodoulides will meet for the first time today at 11.00 am at Colin Stewart’s residence in the UN-controlled Buffer Zone.

President Tatar made a statement to the press following his meeting with Mr. Stewart and recalled that Stewart had also met with Greek Cypriot leader Christodoulides the previous day.

Tatar stated that he and Mr. Stewart discussed in detail the essence of the Cyprus issue and the expectations of the Turkish Cypriot side at the current stage of the Cyprus issue and added that today’s meeting would be an “acquaintance meeting “.

President Tatar stated that the earthquake issue was on the agenda at the meeting with Stewart and said that he would bring this issue to the agenda at the meeting with Christodoulides today and that the Turkish Cypriot side would have a proposal on how the two sides can cooperate in case of a possible earthquake in Cyprus.

“Everyone already knows my policy that there can only be an agreement in Cyprus with the cooperation of the two States and that the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus must be confirmed in order for formal negotiations to start. If an understanding develops and is accepted on these points, then we can move on to official negotiations.” Tatar added.