The Greek Cypriot Administration has been stepping up its diplomatic efforts in recent days to resume the Cyprus negotiations from where they left off in Crans Montana in 2017. On the other hand, the Turkish Cypriot Side is insisting on the acceptance of the principle of sovereign equality, which was put on the table in Geneva in 2021.

Issuing a written statement on Monday, the President’s Special Representative Ergün Olgun stressed that at the core of federalism, the constituent states have equal rights, status, and opportunities in all aspects.

He summarized the reasons for the failure of talks for a federal partnership, which the Turkish Cypriot Side supported until the Crans Montana Summit in 2017.

He said that when looking at the actions and behaviour of the Greek Cypriot Side, it was clear that the Greek Cypriot’s actual goal was not a solution based on the equal rights and status derived from the essence of the parties, which is necessary to establish and maintain a multi-identity/multi-national federal partnership but their intention is to integrate the Turkish Cypriot people into a privileged minority status in the Republic of Cyprus which they occupied and turned into a Greek Cypriot state in 1963 through legal arrangements.

“Indeed, the former Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Anastasiades, in a letter sent to President Ersin Tatar on May 19, 2022, clearly expressed the view that the foundation of the solution should be the transformation of the so-called Republic of Cyprus into a federal state that addresses the concerns and secures the rights of both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. Multi-identity/multi-national federal partnerships are built on the equal legitimacy of all founders, not just one,” Olgun said.

Ergün Olgun indicated that the Greek Cypriot Side’s insistence on the removal of the 1960 Guarantee System, which is vital for the Turkish Cypriot Side, is another reflection of their hegemonic mindset.

“It will be observed that the conditions for establishing and maintaining a federal partnership in Cyprus are not suitable. In these conditions, it is evident that a solution imposed by direction, pressure, or coercion cannot be sustained,” he said.

Nevertheless, Olgun reminded that the Turkish Cypriot Side is proposing an adaptation of a different form of cooperation to the Greek Cypriot Side and the Greek Cypriot hegemonic mindset, which they believe would better protect the Turkish Cypriot people.

He reiterated President Tatar’s proposal from April 2021 in Geneva, where negotiations could officially begin for the establishment of a new cooperation relationship between the existing two states in Cyprus, based on the confirmation of sovereign equality and equal international status.

Olgun added, “President Tatar has repeatedly stated that he is ready to discuss the depth and breadth of the cooperation relationship on the basis of sovereign equality and equal international status.”