The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ (TRNC) Representative in New York Mehmet Dana has said that the latest statement made by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) regarding Cyprus was far from reflecting the current realities.

“The UN statement merely repeats the comprehensive and categorically failed federal formula that has been thoroughly exhausted as the sole framework for a solution in Cyprus,” Dana noted stressing that the Council’s approach was the biggest obstacle to a fair and lasting solution in Cyprus.

The TRNC Representative in New York, Mehmet Dana on Thursday evaluated the UN Security Council’s (UNSC) statement following a presentation of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Cyprus, Colin Stewart, to the Anadolu News Agency.

Dana said that the Turkish Cypriot side, aware that repeating the same exercise would not yield different results, had proposed a new and realistic vision for Cyprus based on the “sovereign equality and equal international status” in line with the Secretary-General’s call for “something different this time”.

Dana stressed that the confirmation of our inherent rights of sovereign equality and equal international status was a necessity for the initiation and success of an official negotiation process based on cooperation between the two sides on the island.

He also reminded that a consensus had been reached at the trilateral meeting held in September 2021, on appointing a new Special envoy to replace Jane Holl Lute, but the Greek Cypriot side had taken a step back from this agreement.

Pointing out that another significant issue that was a serious omission in the statement made by the UN Security Council, which is the need for cooperation between both sides on issues of common concern, such as hydrocarbon resources or undocumented migration, Dana criticized the Council’s call for cooperation between the two sides on these issues.

Describing the statement made by the UN Security Council as being far from reflecting the current realities on the island of Cyprus, he noted that the statement simply reiterates the comprehensive and categorically failed federal formula, which has been thoroughly exhausted as a single solution framework for Cyprus.

Dana further stressed that this approach by the Council was the biggest obstacle to achieving a fair and lasting solution in Cyprus.