Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus regarding the misinformation within the Greek Cypriot press.

False and manipulative news have been published in the Greek Cypriot press in relation to yesterday’s meeting of the Greek Cypriot National Council. It is obvious that the Greek Cypriot leadership has secured the publication of inaccurate and fabricated news in the press within the framework of its futile attempts to portray the Greek Cypriot side in the eyes of the international community as “the side that is in favour of a settlement” regarding the Cyprus issue.

Greek Cypriot press alleges that the United Nations Secretary-General has presented a new proposal to the two sides, but that Turkish Cypriot side rejected this proposal. It further claims that the Turkish Cypriot side has given up on the two-state solution model and that the conditions we requested for the start of negotiations have changed.

There has not been any official meeting proposal conveyed to us by the UN Secretary-General. Therefore, news claiming that the Turkish Cypriot side has rejected a tri-party and/or five-party conference proposal by the UN, while the Greek Cypriot side has accepted it, are baseless.

Currently, there are no other initiatives other than the process being undertaken by the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Cyprus, Ms. Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar. On the other hand, Ms. Holguin’s mandate is to determine whether or not there is common ground between the sides to start a new negotiation process; not to conduct a search for a common ground. Ms. Holguin is expected to visit Cyprus for the third time in the upcoming weeks, within the framework of the process she is carrying out towards this end. While it is clear that there is no common ground between the sides in Cyprus; Ms. Holguin, whose six-month mandate will end on the 4^th of July, is expected to first present her findings to the UN Secretary-General.

The claims in the Greek Cypriot press that the Turkish Cypriot side is only referring to “sovereign equality” but not a two-state solution, is completely a bi-product of the delusions of the Greek Cypriot leadership. Our position, which was put forward by our President at the informal five-party meeting held in Geneva in April 2021, remains unchanged. Accordingly, reaffirmation of sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot side is essential. The means by which this request can be met was also explicitly declared to the international community at the said meeting.

Sovereign equality carries no meaning in the absence of equal international status. In other words, sovereign equality of our people, alongside the acceptance of our State – the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus – which was founded on the basis of the free will and the right to self-determination of our people; are an integrated whole.

Any deviation from the new basis presented by the Turkish Cypriot side in order to reach a just and lasting agreement in Cyprus is out of question. Position of the Turkish Cypriot side, which is also supported by Motherland Republic of Türkiye, is to negotiate a cooperative relationship between the two existing States in Cyprus to ensure good neighbourly relations between them, following the reaffirmation of the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot side. We reiterate that this position remains valid.