There could be a meeting in Geneva on March 17-18, including the guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the UK, the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said on Monday’ after his meeting with UN Under Secretary-General for Political and Peace Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo.
“We said that we can participate in this unofficial meeting. Some preparations will continue beforehand. Constructively, we will continue to say that if steps are to be taken towards the solution of the Cyprus issue, it can be with the sovereign equality and equal status of the Turkish Cypriots,” said Tatar.
He noted that they had the opportunity to convey to Di Carlo that the protection of inherent rights is of vital importance when looking at the founding agreements of the past and said, “The isolation and embargoes imposed on the Turkish Cypriots are unacceptable”.
Arguing that the Greek Cypriot side’s uncompromising attitude continues, Tatar underlined that the sensitivities of the Turkish Cypriot people must be accepted for a fair, permanent and sustainable agreement,
He said the UN and other countries must step in.
Touching on the importance of opening up on issues such as direct flights and direct trade, Tatar stated that if these openings are realized, official negotiations can be started.
Tatar stated that they are always open to cooperation on various issues such as natural gas and tourism and made evaluations on transitions.
Touching upon the border crossings and gates on the island Tatar said “There are 9 gates in total, there were around 8 million crossings in 2024. This means that Metehan is the most congested of the 9 gates. We conveyed that the congestion may increase even more with the opening of the Presidential compound and the parliament and the park in the region. We had proposed Haspolat and Akıncılar gates. We did not receive a response from the Greek Cypriot administration and I conveyed all these problems to DiCarlo.”
( Source : BRT News)
