TRNC President Tufan Erhürman made a statement to BRT after his meeting with United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres in New York. Stating that the Confidence Building Measures (GMP) were mainly discussed during the meeting, Erhürman noted that he conveyed his evaluations regarding the attitude of the Greek Cypriot side to Guterres.
Stating that Guterres also focuses on confidence-building measures, Erhürman listed the topics in question as follows:
"When Guterres visited the island, there were 7 GCOs that he brought to the agenda. Among these, crossing points, demining, common mechanism for responding to disasters, joint fight against irregular migration, coordination board on civil society, sports activities that we attach great importance to, and EU citizenship rights of children born from mixed marriages were among the 7 GEOs."
Erhürman said that they accepted six of these measures during Guterres's visit to Cyprus and reiterated this stance in the tripartite meeting, and that they found the suggestions regarding the crossing points worth studying.
Arguing that the Greek Cypriot side has not made any statement so far regarding the six measures other than the crossing points, Erhürman said the following regarding the claim that a 19-item proposal was presented at the last meeting:
"There were some new proposals brought by the Greek Cypriot side, but our position is that there are 7 confidence-building measures put forward by the Secretary-General during his visit to the island. Six of them have already been accepted by us. There is only a short time left for the end of the Secretary-General's term of office. Time is limited. There is no point in shifting the focus by expanding the issue further and making it even more difficult to reach a solution."
Stating that a solution should be produced by focusing on seven items, Erhürman said, "Obviously, bringing new suggestions is considered by us as an approach that makes it difficult to solve the existing ones from this point on and makes it even further away from getting results. We shared this opinion with the Secretary General at today's meeting."
“WE ARE FACED WITH SOME APPROACHES THAT FURTHER ERASE TRUST”
Stating that while they were working on confidence-building measures, they also encountered practices that undermine trust, Erhürman said that he conveyed these to Guterres.
Erhurman; He listed the cancellation of festivals and the Barcelona club's event, property capture practices, attempts to prevent the legal acceptance of the Immovable Property Commission, and the decisions taken in the European Parliament with the initiatives of the Greek Cypriot leadership.
Stating that the Greek Cypriot side also brought to the agenda the agreements signed with various countries, especially Israel, Erhürman stated that these initiatives may also pose risks for the Turkish Cypriots. Erhürman emphasized that, while trying to implement confidence-building measures on the one hand, and on the other hand, taking steps that erode trust creates a contradiction.
“WE DID NOT PREFER TO DEBATE THROUGH THE PRESS”
Stating that they made limited statements to the press for three days in New York, Erhürman explained the reason for this as follows:
"Since we took office, we have never considered an approach as if we were negotiating or meeting through the press as an approach compatible with seriousness and good faith. We have been very patient on this issue."
Reminding that during this process, there was a discussion about the participation of Turkish Cypriots in a forum over the title of Nicosia Turkish Municipality Mayor Mehmet Harmancı, Erhürman said, "We are in New York, maybe an outcome will emerge, so we did not prefer to discuss it through the press, we refrained from making a statement."
Arguing that the Greek Cypriot side made repeated statements and created the perception that they rejected the 2+1 meeting, Erhürman claimed that attempts were made at the UN to prevent their contacts in New York.
Stating that he met with the general secretaries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Organization of Turkish States, and that Presidential Undersecretary Mehmet Dânâ also had various contacts, Erhürman said:
"The Greek Cypriot side prefers to tell only themselves the developments and events regarding Cyprus to the international community. They put forward an approach so that obstacles are placed in front of us from telling them. I had the opportunity to explain these to the Mr. Secretary General."
RESPONSE TO THE CLAIM THAT HE VETOED THE 2+1 MEETING
Stating that Guterres had previously said that such a meeting was not possible in New York because there was a lot of work to be done, Erhürman stated that they agreed with the view that past mistakes should not be repeated.
Erhürman noted that a long meeting was held between the delegations, in which Holguin also participated, and it was evaluated whether a consensus could be reached on confidence-building measures, and said that the 2+1 meeting did not take place because a common point could not be reached at the end of the meeting.
Erhürman made the following assessment regarding the news that he vetoed the meeting:
"There were news in the Greek Cypriot press about my vetoing of the 2+1 meeting. As you may appreciate, those who know diplomacy know that if the Secretary General asked for a 2+1 meeting and I rejected it, the Secretary General would reconsider his meeting with me today."
Stating that Guterres will continue to deal with the Cyprus issue with the same enthusiasm, Erhürman said, "This is pleasing for us. We continue to support the efforts of the Secretary General."
Regarding the process to be followed, Erhürman said, "In the framework drawn by the Secretary, there are GCOs, methodology and substance-related issues, respectively. There are 7 GYOs and we have accepted 6 of them. Guterres expects progress in GYOs. He clearly stated it at the beginning of the meeting."
