The UN Secretary-Generals personal envoy Maria Angela Holguin had a productive meeting with President Ersin Tatar as the UN diplomat embarked on a second round of contacts, she is holding on the island in hopes of finding common ground to restart negotiations of the Cyprus problem.

Tatar, in his own statement, reiterated on having sovereign equality and equal international status for the Turkish Cypriot side in order to restart talks.

Speaking after the one-hour long meeting, the UN Personal Envoy Maria Angela Holguin said she had a “very good meeting” with President Ersin Tatar, and that she hoped the rest of her meetings this week with the chambers of commerce and civil society would be likewise.

“I hope I can continue here, and continue to understand the issue, and think about it more as the Cyprus issue, than the Cyprus problem,” she said.

Speaking separately to the press after the meeting, President Tatar reiterated his position on having sovereign equality and equal international standing for the Turkish Cypriot side in order to restart talks.

Tatar noted that the Republic of Cyprus, created in 1960 after the British left, was based on an agreement that allowed the two communities to live together while ensuring a balance between them.

However, according to him, the Greek Cypriot side “sought to dismantle this democracy, which bore federal characteristics”.

Criticising the UN decision in 1964 to recognise the Republic of Cyprus as the only legitimate government on the island, as well as what he described as South Cyprus’ “unilateral” accession to the EU in 2004, Tatar claimed that “these decisions are unfair to Turkish Cypriots.”

Tatar insisted on the need for concrete steps towards sovereign equality before any resumption of talks.

He said he was ready to consider new approaches on this basis with the UN secretary-general envoy.