President Ersin Tatar on Wednesday briefed representative of the political parties with seats in the Republic’s Assembly on his latest contacts in New York held on the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly.
The leaders of the political parties spoke to the press following the meeting which lasted for nearly an hour.
Speaking first, the leader of the main opposition Republican Turkish Party (CTP) Tufan Erhürman said that the meetings held with the president before and after his visit to New York were a positive development.
He said that his party stood by its position on the Cyprus issue which had been conveyed to the president ahead of his visit to New York.
Erhürman reiterated his party’s view that any solution model other than a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation based on UN resolutions was unrealistic.
He stated that their views do not align with the Turkish Cypriot side’s new policy, and they were supporters of the idea of holding talks for a federal settlement, something which has been conveyed to the president.
“We asked the president whether or not claims concerning that the Greek Cypriot leader had proposed a tripartite meeting in New York with the Secretary-General were true. The response we got was that they had received no such invitation,” the CTP leader added.
Fikri Ataoğlu, the leader of the Democrat Party (DP) who also is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Culture, Youth, and Environment, thanked President Ersin Tatar for the briefing.
Ataoğlu said that the president had informed them about his contacts.
He added that both President Tatar’s contacts and the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s speech at the UN General Assembly defending the rights of the Turkish Cypriot people were important.
The DP leader pointed out that negotiations which have been going on for 50 years without any results could not continue for another 50 years.
Ataoğlu emphasized that an important step towards the recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is being taken with the tourism event in Azerbaijan.
National Unity Party (UBP) leader and Prime Minister Ünal Üstel said they shared and fully support President Ersin Tatar’s views on the Cyprus issue.
He expressed that they had once again witnessed that the Greek Cypriot mentality has not changed during the meetings at the UN General Assembly, and noted that the Turkish Cypriot people were still being ignored.
“The Greek Cypriot leader chose to address the Republic of Türkiye as the sole interlocutor in his speech at the UN General Assembly. We do not accept this; there are two sovereign peoples here,” he said
Prime Minister Üstel also drew attention to the importance of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s call for recognizing the TRNC at the UN General Assembly
“Our goal is to promote the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and we will continue to work with Türkiye to lift embargoes,” he added.
Üstel also emphasized that they would not sit at the [negotiating] table if the equal sovereignty and equal status of the Turkish Cypriot people is not recognised.
“To achieve the recognition of the TRNC, we will increase our social and cultural activities with member countries of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS).”