‘Tatar’s rejection shows contempt to UN and Turkish Cypriots’

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar’s denial to attend a UN meeting would show contempt towards the international body and the Turkish Cypriot people, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Sunday.

Christodoulides’ statements were made before statements by Tatar came out, he would reject such an invite.

Speaking at a church service and answering a journalist’s question about Tatar’s position, Christodoulides said:  “I have not read Mr Tatar’s statements. As you conveyed them to me, if these statements are true, it is a sign of disdain, first of all, for our Turkish Cypriot compatriots, but at the same time for the international community, the UN Secretary General himself, and the EU.

The Secretary-General, the UN, has asked for this meeting to take place. The one who seems to be weak with his positions, the positions he is putting forward, is Mr Tatar who seems, based on what you have conveyed to me, to be afraid even to discuss. But in any case, we shall see.”

Asked whether there is a basis for a trilateral meeting, the president said: “The Secretary-General has decided that this meeting should take place, which was aimed at opening the way for the resumption of negotiations. We have been talking very specifically for a long time. And with the Secretary-General, who I saw recently in Paris, we had discussed this particular meeting, but also with Ms. Holguin, the Secretary-General’s personal envoy, with the EU, and all this led to the decision, as I announced last night, to make myself available for a meeting with the Secretary-General and the Turkish Cypriot leader on 13 August in New York, precisely to discuss and open the way for the resumption of talks.”

He added that there is no plan B for solving the Cyprus problem, and that avoiding talks benefits Tatar and all those who support him and want the country to remain divided.

Asked whether he will go to New York for a meeting with the UN Secretary General, even if there is no trilateral meeting, Christodoulides said that “if I need to go to New York even tomorrow to meet the Secretary General, if he deems it necessary, I will do so. I had the opportunity to exchange views with the SG in Paris, we also talked about the specific meeting that was scheduled. From then on we will be in contact with the UN to see what the next steps are. If the SG deems it appropriate, I am ready to go tomorrow as well”.