President Ersin Tatar is continuing to brief civil society organisations and other associations on his latest contacts held in New York on the sidelines of the 78th General Assembly.
Tatar on Wednesday came together with members of the Peoples’ Council, explaining to them that it was impossible to accept Greek Cypriot demands to resume negotiations from where they left off in Crans Montana in 2017.
Speaking during the meeting, Tatar once again thanked Turkish President Erdoğan for the call he made in his UN General Assembly address to the international community to recognize the TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) and put an end to the embargoes imposed on the Turkish Cypriot people.
Regarding his meetings in New York and his talks with UN Secretary-General Guterres on the Cyprus issue, Tatar said, “I also conveyed to the Secretary-General that negotiations cannot begin before the recognition of our equal sovereignty and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people.
He drew attention to the fact that a federal solution was no longer possible which was why the Turkish Cypriot side had shifted to its new two-state policy.
Tatar also said that it was not possible to accept [the Greek Cypriot side’s] demands to resume negotiations from where they left off in Crans Montana six years ago.
President Tatar also criticized the European Union, saying that the EU had failed to keep its promises to the Turkish Cypriot people who had voted “yes” in the 2004 Annan Plan referendum.
Tatar also pointed out that there were ongoing attempts to create false perceptions such as the existence of a “Cypriot nation”.
“There is no Cypriot nation. In Cyprus, there are Turks and Greeks. There are two separate peoples in Cyprus with different languages, religions, origins, and cultures. There are two separate democracies in Cyprus. While these facts are present, the validity of statements like ‘There is a Cypriot nation’ is non-existent, and this rhetoric is aimed at deceiving our people and severing our ties with Türkiye, “he warned.
The president also touched upon the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, expressing concern about the impact of this conflict on the region and emphasizing the need for problems to be resolved through dialogue rather than conflict and war.
During the meeting, the heads and representatives of associations and civil society organizations expressed their full trust and support for President Tatar and the Turkish Cypriot side’s policy for a two-state solution.
They stated that they supported the new policy carried out in cooperation with Türkiye and that the solution they desired was based on the existence of two sovereign states with equal sovereignty, not a federation.