President Ersin Tatar on Wednesday received the new US Ambassador to South Cyprus Julie Fisher.

Speaking to the press after the meeting, the president said that he informed the US Ambassador Fisher on the Turkish Cypriot side’s new policy based on sovereign equality and equal international status.

“I informed the ambassador that we can only begin official negotiations as and when the sovereign equality of the Turkish Cypriot side is recognised. I also expressed our disappointment over the lifting of the arms embargo on South Cyprus that was in place since 1974. This has only contributed to heightening tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean. There is no agreement at the moment. There is no common ground for a compromise. We must all strive for this,” Tatar said.

Stating that the Turkish Cypriot side was open to a number of new projects and ideas on the island through the technical committees and various other communication channels to improve the quality of life of people on both sides, Tatar said that one of these proposals included cooperating on the exploration and exploitation of natural resources.

“On July 1, 2022, we told the other side that if there will be a fair, permanent and realistic agreement in Cyprus through the United Nations (UN), they should consider the TRNC as their interlocutor, and that we can cooperate to explore all these riches in the joint committees that will be formed, and that renewable energy, interconnectivity, water, and Türkiye’s cooperation will be ensured,” he said.

Tatar added that achieving interconnectivity via Türkiye would solve the energy production issue on both sides to a great extent and that such projects would help lower tensions on the island.

He said he had told the US Ambassador Fisher that they were constantly in contact with the UN and that he had insisted on sovereign equality and equal international status at last week’s meeting with the Under-Secretary-General who was on the island for contacts.

Tatar said that the US, one of the most powerful members of the UN Security Council, had an important role in steering global politics.

“Both the UN Security Council, and the Secretary-General are carrying out their own work but the UN Security Council needs to be updated from time to time. The influence the Americans have in the UN Security Council is very important. I told her as the new ambassador how important it was for her to grasp the realities of Cyprus and the position of the Turkish Cypriot sides in Cyprus, how important our new policy is for a permanent sustainable solution in Cyprus and how important it is for her to convey all this to her superiors in Washington,” he said.

President Tatar also noted that he informed the US ambassador that they should no longer bring up the issue of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation adding that this was an outdated solution model of a bygone era.

Pointing out that the changing conjuncture, the geopolitics and geo-strategic developments in the Eastern Mediterranean had revealed how important the sovereign equality of the Turkish Cypriot People was, Tatar said that he explained these issues to the ambassador in detail.

Expressing the hope that the new US Ambassador to South Cyprus will evaluate their meeting in the best way and support the new policy, the president stressed that they strongly opposed the EU’s involvement in solution efforts.

Also touching upon what the US ambassador told him, Tatar said that he was informed that Washington was following developments in Cyprus closely and that her country sincerely continues to support a sustainable agreement on the island.

“In essence, why do we demand sovereign equality? Acquired sovereign equality is a right in the constitution of the 1960 Republic’s founding treaty. The acquired right is sacred. The acquired right is our sovereign right arising from an international agreement and it says there that the Turkish side is as sovereign as the Greek side. I asked her if the Greek Cypriots still have a goal to exclude Türkiye, to reduce Turkish Cypriots into a minority and transform Cyprus into a Greek island. If they are ready to share everything with us, why do they have such difficulty in coming to terms with our sovereign equality?” President Tatar added.