Tatar says UN called him to enter negotiations in September

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Thursday said the United Nations had called in on the telephone, expecting that he would enter negotiations to solve the Cyprus problem as early as September.

Speaking at an event in the Turkish Black Sea town of Bartin, he said the UN had “great expectations” regarding the prospect of talks, but that there will “never” be a “step back” from his prerequisite that the north’s “sovereign equality and statehood be affirmed”.

“That is why we are waiting for that right now. If that is confirmed, direct trade, direct flights, direct contact, with the removal of all kinds of such ruthless embargoes from on hour heads with the confirmation of our state, only then can we enter a process for a fair, permanent and sustainable solution to the Cyprus problem,” he said.

He added, “without those things being confirmed, we will never return to the point where negotiations were left in 2017, when talks for a federal solution were ongoing, with the idea of zero soldiers and zero guarantees.”

He also insisted there are “two separate states and two separate peoples in Cyprus”.

“The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is the Turkish Cypriots’ state and this state was not established as a joke. This state is an expression of the Turkish Cypriots’ independence, freedom, of liberty, is recognised by the Republic of Turkey and is an observer member of the Organisation of Turkic States,” he said.

With this in mind, he said, “the important thing is to continue to the end” on his path, aiming to secure a two-state solution.

“They can pull you to different places at the negotiation table. Again, we are continuing a diplomatic process without being at the negotiation table. We demand that our sovereignty be accepted before we sit at the negotiation table. This is our most natural right,” he said.

He added, “it is not enough for us, the Turkish Cypriots, to ask for our own separate state. The Turkish Cypriots’ potential and power is clear.”

He also saluted Turkey’s involvement in Cyprus, saying, “the fact that our guarantor motherland, the Republic of Turkey, which is only 40 miles away from this place, has demanded a two0state solution, has brought the scales and balances to a completely different place.”

“Now we have reached this stage, there is no turning back and there should not be any turning back.”

Meanwhile, Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said the government has been in “constant communication” with the UN “for a long time”.

He added that the government’s “sole objective” is for talks to resume from where they were halted in Crans Montana in 2017.

“Anything that deviates from this framework cannot be accepted by the Greek Cypriot side, nor by the international community,” he said,