President Ersin Tatar held a telephone conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

During the call, President Tatar told Guterres that the Greek Cypriot violations regarding the Yiğitler-Pile road must come to an end.

Issuing a written statement after the meeting, President Tatar stated that they had a constructive and positive meeting with Secretary-General Guterres, as well as mutual understanding.

Pointing out that the meeting was a continuation of the contact made in New York within the framework of the UN General Assembly; President Tatar said that he spoke about the Greek Cypriot activities that violate the consensus reached on the Yiğitler-Pile road.

He said that he informed the Secretary General of the Greek Cypriot side’s attempts to disrupt the work taking place in the area.

“We do not want tension” said Tatar and added that what needs to be done is for the Greek Cypriot leadership to stop its violations that will affect the route of the Yiğitler-Pile road as soon as possible.

“I conveyed to Mr. Guterres that as the Turkish Cypriot side, after the completion of the construction of the road, we are ready to discuss arrangements that will benefit both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots with the consent of both sides. Mr. Secretary General said that he understood our sensitivities and that he would look into the issue” said Tatar.

He also congratulated Mr. Guterres for breaking the Greek Cypriot leadership’s two-year resistance and convincing them to appoint a personal representative.

“I reiterated to the Secretary-General that in line with the agreement we reached, the personal representative will be appointed for six months and his only task will be to work out whether there is common ground between the two sides for the start of a new and official process. I also expressed our sensitivity that the personal representative should not be appointed from the EU or the Commonwealth. I also underlined that we will seriously consider the candidates that Mr. Guterres will propose as always,” said Tatar.

He also said that during the meeting in New York, he also brought up his proposal on the cooperation between the two sides.

“I informed him that we are open to new dialogue on cooperation and that we can start this work with the Greek Cypriot leader, preferably with his participation. I stated that the Greek Cypriot leader met with him in Cairo last October, that we trust his impartiality and that we expect to hold a face to face meeting with Mr. Guterres at the earliest opportunity” said Tatar.

Stating that regional issues were also discussed during the meeting, President Tatar said that he conveyed to the Secretary General that the Turkish Cypriot side is ready to do its part to end the human tragedy in Gaza as soon as possible.