Tatar departs for New York

Turkish Cypriot Leader Ersin Tatar departed for the US on Wednesday for a meeting with the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The meeting with Guterres is set to take place in New York on Friday.
Tatar told reporters at Ercan Airport that they were determined to continue their new policy, with the support of the Republic of Türkiye.
He also rubbished reports that he will be forced to accept UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ proposals during their upcoming meeting in New
The United Nations secretary general António Guterres will meet with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Friday at the headquarters of the international organisation in New York.
Tatar’s invite came after Guterres met the Greek Cypriot Leader Nikos Christodoulides in Belgium on the sidelines of the European Council summit last week.
The Turkish Cypriot side had requested that Guterres also hold a meeting with Tatar, and Guterres promptly invited him to travel to Brussels the following day.
However,Tatar was unable to travel to Brussels. and the New York meeting was scheduled
He will first travel to Washington D.C for contacts before moving onto New York.
Speaking at Ercan airport before his departure, President Ersin Tatar said that there was no going back from the current two-state policy on the Cyprus issue, which he added, was fully supported by Ankara.
He pointed out that the UNSG’s special envoy has been appointed for six months and is not halfway through that period.
“Consultations are ongoing,” he said, adding he expects to meet Maria Ángela Holguín for the third time in April, on a date that has already been set.
Tatar said that there was currently no common ground, which the UN personal envoy was tasked with finding, but that there was still time before her term was completed.
“But certainly, our view is that if there is a definitive, fair, permanent agreement in Cyprus, it will certainly be a two-state solution,” Tatar was quoted telling the press.
He then added that he will not enter a process that has been fully exhausted for 50 years, “first with the Annan Plan and then at Crans Montana.”
Tatar said that there will be no going back to the negotiating table unless the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot side is recognized.
He also ruled out the possibility of resuming talks from where they left off in Crans Montana in 2017, something he added the Greek Cypriot side was insisting on.
“Our policy is now Türkiye’s national policy,” Tatar said, before expressing his dissatisfaction with UN Security Council Resolution 186, which designates Christodoulides “as the sole representative of the Republic of Cyprus.”
Earlier on Tuesday, prior to his meeting with Guterres, Tatar met with the leaders of the political parties which have seats in the Republic’s Assembly.
( Source BRT)