TRNC Presidency made a statement on Stewart’s appointment

The TRNC Presidency announced that Colin Stewart, whose appointment was approved by the Turkish Cypriot side on 30th September 2021, is expected to take office as of December 2021, as the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, the Chief of Mission of the UN Peacekeeping Force, and the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General.

In the written statement made by the TRNC Presidency, it was reminded that Elizabeth Spehar’s term on the island had ended in September this year, and the UN had sought the consent of the Turkish Cypriot side for the appointment of a new special representative.

It was also noted that the Turkish Cypriot side approved the appointment of Stewart on 30th September 2021 and Stewart is expected to take office on 1st December 2021. The Turkish Cypriot side and the Republic of Turkey underlined from the very beginning that there should be a common ground to launch the official negotiations.

Pointing out that the Turkish Cypriot side and Turkey underlined at every opportunity the need to find common ground in order for official negotiations to begin, the Office of the President said that no such ground existed at the moment, a conclusion confirmed by the UN Secretary-General at the end of the five-plus-one meeting held in Geneva in April this year.

The statement also reminded that President Ersin Tatar presented a proposal at the informal meeting held in Geneva to launch official talks in order to achieve a new relationship based on cooperation between two equal and sovereign states with equal international status.

After the 5+UN informal meetings, the work on whether there is a common ground to launch the formal negotiations between the parties was conducted by UN Envoy Jane Holl Lute.

The same statement said that the Turkish Cypriot side and Turkey had given consent to the appointment of a new personal representative after the previous envoy Jane Holl Lute’s term had expired.