The leader of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), Tufan Erhürman, evaluated the Geneva talks in a statement made on his personal social media account.

“We will reach a solution that will end the status quo through dialogue and diplomacy” Erhürman stressed.

In his statement, the CTP leader Tufan Erhürman reiterated that before Geneva, they had repeatedly stressed that high expectations were unrealistic and that no decision for a solution or the start of formal negotiations should be expected from the summit.

However, he also underlined another important point: “Amidst all the turmoil in the world, the presence of the UN Secretary-General and the three guarantor countries in Geneva is not insignificant.”

Pointing out that, within the framework of Security Council resolutions, the only official negotiation table the Secretary-General could establish was for a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation based on political equality, the CTP leader noted that, precisely for this reason, the Geneva platform was an informal setting where other issues could also be discussed.

Considering the positions of President Ersin Tatar and Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides, as expressed on various occasions, Erhürman stated that the best possible outcome from Geneva would be the continuation of dialogue and possibly a few confidence-building measures.

Referring to the pre-Geneva discussions, Erhürman noted that the leaders’ agreement on a few crossing points could have served as a motivation for the Geneva meeting.

However, he criticized the decision to leave this matter to the formal discussions involving the UN Secretary-General and the guarantor states, calling it “absurd”.

He further stated that finalizing this issue now depended on the efforts of the personal envoy to be appointed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres.