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The upcoming 5+1 informal meeting was taken up at a high-level meeting in Lefkoşa yesterday between President Ersin Tatar and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
In a joint press conference after the meeting, both stressed that any new negotiations on the Cyprus Issue needed to be based on sovereign equality.
Çavuşoğlu reiterated that several times since the collapse of the talks in the summer of 2017 they had said it was the last chance for a federal solution.
The Turkish Foreign Minister blamed the collapse on the Greek Cypriot side which not only refuses to have political equality, but it does not want to share anything with the Turkish Cypriots.
The Greek Cypriot side, he said, still has the same stance to date so “we said if there is no political equality then there should be sovereign equality.”
“Now we are exactly at that point. That is, for 52 years there were negotiations on a federation and each time, as was the case with the Annan plan and those before it, the negotiations failed because of the Greek Cypriot side’s stance,” he said.
If there is sovereign equality then there can be two states, Çavuşoğu said.
“Anyway, today on the island of Cyprus there are two communities, two peoples, two states.”
The Turkish foreign minister said Ankara would not tolerate any time-wasting from now on.
“We must be realists. Some speak of a two-state solution in the ‘TRNC’; of course, we see this in the Greek Cypriot side, there might be different views, we are monitoring them, but at the end of the day, I know very well that Nicos Anastasiades too wants a two-state solution. The other day there were also statements by the archbishop. He (Anastasiades) did not say it to me only. He said it to everyone.”
Also touching upon the issue of hydrocarbons, Çavuşoğlu said that the Turkish side desired the equitable distribution of the wealth discovered in the region.
“As we have stated before no platform or equation which excludes Turkey and Turkish Cypriots, as well as their rights, has validity,” he said.
The Turkish top diplomat, however, reminded that Ankara had proposed to the EU to hold a regional conference with the participation of the TRNC to discuss the issue.
“If we can reach an agreement on the distribution of revenues, we will have solved 50 per cent of the Eastern Mediterranean issue,” he added.
Criticizing the European Union for its biased position over the crisis, Çavuşoğlu underscored that in order for the bloc to be an observer during the talks, it needs to be fair.
President Ersin Tatar, on the other hand, said that he appreciated Turkey’s efforts for the Turkish Cypriots to have peace on the long-divided island.
“The fact that Turkey is with us 100% on this issue is empowering us,” he said.
Tatar said that the Turkish Cypriot side will be promoting the two-state model based on sovereign equality and the cooperation of the two states when attending the informal 5+1 meeting in early March.
“I conveyed this to Mr Guterres during our recent meeting,” he said, reminding that all past processes, the failures and disappointments experienced all justified the Turkish Cypriot side’s position in favour of a two-state solution.
He added that all efforts and opportunities to reach a federal settlement had been exhausted.
“We shall however not run away from negotiations,” said Tatar, adding that Cyprus was no longer the old Cyprus nor was the Eastern Mediterranean the old Eastern Mediterranean.
“There are energy resources, the issue of sovereignty and a strong Turkey by our side,” he said.
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