9 ay önce

Turkish Cypriot leader demands equal status to restart talks

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus President Ersin Tatar welcomes Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's Personal Envoy to Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar.

AA

Delivering a statement to reporters after the meeting, President Tatar highlighted that he and Cuellar had the opportunity to discuss the Cyprus issue in depth. / Photo: AA

"To restart negotiations, our sovereign equality and equal international status must certainly be recognised," Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar has said.

Tatar welcomed Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, the Personal Envoy to Cyprus for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who arrived in the TRNC on Sunday.

During the hour-long meeting, Cuellar was joined by Colin Stewart, the Chief of Mission of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus. Cuellar's previous visit to the TRNC was in January.

Turkish side always approaches every agreement positively

Delivering a statement to reporters after the meeting, President Tatar highlighted that he and Cuellar had the opportunity to discuss the Cyprus issue in depth.

Tatar said he expressed to Cuellar the process of expulsion of the Turkish Cypriots from the "Republic of Cyprus," which they used to be partners from 1960 to 1963. TRNC President said: "To restart the negotiations, our sovereign equality and equal international status must certainly be recognised."

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'Pledges were not were not kept'

"There is a message in the 'sovereign equality and equal international status' thesis that we have advocated for 3 years. The Turkish side has hitherto approached every agreement positively. Despite the Annan Plan Referendum, the Turkish side faced embargoes and hindrances."

Pointing out that the TRNC hit hurdles set by the Greek Cypriot Adm. and, therefore, the European Union (EU) even when negotiating with the Turkic states, Tatar said that none of the pledges made to the Turkish Cypriots on the Annan Plan Referendum were kept.

Making statements to reporters separately from Tatar, Cuellar said that she was glad to come to the island of Cyprus for the second time and striving to comprehend the Cyprus issue by meeting with political parties, non-governmental organisations and representatives from various layers of society.

It was reported that Cuellar, who carries on her contacts in Northern Cyprus, will meet again with President Tatar on March 14.