A brand new peace course of for resolving the Cyprus disaster can “solely proceed at a stage accepted by each events” on the divided island, the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Ersin Tatar mentioned Saturday.
Turkish Cypriote authorities “is not going to compromise on the precept of sovereignty,” Tatar informed reporters on the 78th United Nations Normal Meeting in New York after assembly U.N. Secretary-Normal Antonio Guterres.
Talking after his assembly with Guterres, Tatar mentioned that he conveyed to the Secretary-Normal the calls for of “the events on the island to take into consideration the equal two-state construction and sovereignty needs of the TRNC to work collectively on points corresponding to renewable vitality, equal entry to the EU, irregular migration, mine clearance.”
He famous that direct flights to Ercan Airport are nonetheless not attainable due to the obstruction by the Greek aspect.
Tatar, who emphasised the TRNC goals to “reside in peace and concord,” mentioned: “The Turkish individuals even have the proper to reside on the island as a lot because the Greeks. For 60 years, the Turkish Cypriot individuals have confronted an incredible injustice.”
He expressed gratitude to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who helps the independence of the Turkish Cypriots, in his speech to the Normal Meeting.
“With the efforts of the Republic of Türkiye, we’re decided to proceed our simply battle to the tip,” mentioned Tartar.
Tatar identified that the Greeks have been making an attempt to assimilate the Turkish nation and switch Cyprus right into a Greek island. He mentioned the TRNC overcame the isolation created by the Greek aspect in negotiations with Türkiye and made on the U.N. that their voices have been heard.
Referring to his assembly with Guterres in Geneva, Tatar mentioned: “We reiterated to the Secretary-Normal that we’ll not enter a negotiation course of with out our situations of sovereignty and equality being accepted by each side. He additionally confirmed understanding for these and mentioned that he carefully adopted the occasions, agreed with us that an settlement acceptable to each side may very well be reached by way of the free will of each events and guaranteed us he would by no means exert strain.”
Tatar pointed to the historical past of the Turkish Cypriots on the island, emphasizing that they “owned the island from 1571 till the Lausanne Treaty, have been forcibly expelled, and established their very own state from scratch by way of power.”
“These achievements have been undoubtedly made with the assist of the Republic of Türkiye. Now, it is very important crown this with a two-state answer,” he mentioned.
Noting the TRNC’s standing as an observer member of the Group of Turkic States (OTS), Tatar argued the Turkish Cypriots represent “part of the Nice Turkish Nation.”
“In a means, we symbolize the complete Turkish world within the Japanese Mediterranean,” he mentioned.
The Cyprus difficulty returned to the fore final month after an altercation between U.N. peacekeepers and Turkish Cypriot crews engaged on a highway that may join Pile, a village contained in the U.N.-controlled buffer zone, to Yiğitler (Asos) village within the island’s north.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Türkiye, a guarantor energy prompted by a coup aimed toward Greece’s annexation of the island, launched a navy intervention dubbed the Cyprus Peace Operation to guard Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence.
The division has been a supply of tensions since then, together with over who holds sway on the island’s offshore unique financial zone, over 40% of which was claimed by Türkiye following latest pure gasoline discoveries. Türkiye doesn’t acknowledge the Greek Cypriot administration as a state.
Efforts to reunify the island have been at a standstill because the final spherical of U.N.-backed talks collapsed in 2017.
Greek Cypriots’ just lately elected chief, Nikos Christodoulides, has been pushing to restart talks with Tatar, together with a proposal to get the European Union extra invested within the U.N.-facilitated negotiations and appointing a senior official to assist information the method.
Turkish Cyprus strongly opposes the thought due to the EU’s “pro-Greek perspective” concerning the disaster and the way it has “blocked a suitable settlement and perpetuated the established order.”
The Greek Cypriot administration joined the EU in 2004 after thwarting a U.N. plan for an answer, however solely the Greek Cypriot south enjoys its full advantages.