Tatar meets political party leaders ahead of New York meeting
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Monday held meetings with the leaders of five political parties ahead of this week’s enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem, which is set to begin in New York on Wednesday.
He first held meetings with the leaders of three of the four parties represented in the north’s ‘parliament’, ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel of the UBP, ‘deputy prime minister’ Fikri Ataoglu, and opposition party CTP leader Tufan Erhurman, before holding separate meetings with TDP leader Zeki Celer and HP leader Kudret Ozersay.
After those meetings, he said he will travel to New York with the intention of “discussing what the two states could do in good faith and cooperation”.
“Although we could not make significant progress on the six topics previously agreed upon in Geneva, the technical committee on youth, one of the six topics, was implemented, and the Turkish side always demonstrated its good will regarding the crossing points,” he said.
On the matter of the crossing points, he said the Greek Cypriot side “continues to insist on opening a transit corridor from Athienou” to Nicosia.
Instead, he said, he expects the Greek Cypriot side to “propose two more crossing points” to complement his suggestions of crossing points in the eastern Nicosia suburb of Mia Milia and in the village of Louroujina, which is located between Nicosia and Larnaca.
He also touched on the matter of property and the arrests made by the Republic of Cyprus of people who stand accused of selling Greek Cypriot-owned land in the north, saying that “the Greek Cypriot side has taken steps which are far from good faith regarding the property issue”.
As such, he said, he will “question the other side’s good faith again in New York”.
He then stated his intention to place “emphasis on equality in sovereignty and international status”, stressing that “productive negotiations cannot proceed without accepting these”.
He added that he will continue to demand direct contact, direct trade, and direct flights to the north, and that “the proposals for mutual dialogue and cooperation we will bring to the table in New York will benefit both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots”.
Ustel spoke to journalists after the meeting, and also chose to prioritise the matter of property, describing the arrests as “unacceptable”.
“We have requested that this issue be brought to the highest level by our president. The Greek Cypriot side is attempting to deter some of our businesspeople from their activities by arresting them or using various threats. This is unacceptable,” he said.
He also said the Greek Cypriot side is “putting pressure on tourists and tour operators coming to the TRNC”, and said that the matter of tourism is “at the forefront of the agenda” for New York.
“Our president stated that only three of the six-article agreement [from the previous enlarged meeting in Geneva] had been implemented and that the other three articles had not received a response. He will reiterate these facts at this informal conference and draw attention to the pressures our businesspeople are facing,” he said.
He added that he believes the New York meeting will allow for “the difficulties we are facing to become more visible in the international arena”, and that as such, “our initiatives in this direction will gain momentum”.
Celer also spoke to journalists after the conclusion of his meeting with Tatar, saying the recent arrests over property have turned the north into an “open-air prison”.
On the matter of crossing points, he said the Turkish Cypriot side should complete the infrastructural preparations to build a crossing point at Mia Milia, “even if unilaterally”, and added that the Turkish Cypriot Nicosia municipality (LTB), of which mayor Mehmet Harmanci belongs to the TDP, is “ready to take steps” if given the green light by Tatar.