Road to the International Recognition of the Turkish Republic of Cyprus

[T-SaGe]

https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/627782

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5+1 Cyprus talks start at UN in Geneva
UN chief convenes informal talks with 'realistic' frame to negotiate lasting settlement of decades-old dispute
Peter Kenny |27.04.2021

GENEVA
An informal meeting on Cyprus began in Geneva on Tuesday, with the UN chief seeking “common ground” for the resumption of talks to find a lasting solution to the decades-old dispute.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held separate meetings with the leaders of the Turkish and Greek Cypriots.

Ersin Tatar, president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), called his meeting with Guterres “productive,” and said his side conveyed its views on the dispute to the UN chief.

“Guterres knows the Cyprus issue well. Now he will discuss the issue with the other side. We will discuss the issue intensively tomorrow and the day after,” Tatar said.

Alessandra Vellucci, UN Information Service (UNIS) spokeswoman in Geneva, said that “the informal 5+1 Meeting on Cyprus in Geneva” had begun with a bilateral meeting between Guterres and Tatar.

Those talks were followed by a meeting between Guterres and Nicos Anastasiades, leader of the Greek Cypriot administration, at Geneva’s Intercontinental Hotel, not far from the UN’s European headquarters.

The UN chief hosted a reception for the heads of delegations later in the evening.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, and UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab are leading the delegations of the guarantor countries.

UN chief is 'realistic'

The plenary session of the talks is to start on Wednesday.

Ahead of the talks, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres, had said: "The secretary-general is realistic. This is an issue that he knows well. He has participated in discussions before. So, he is realistic."

He said Guterres decided to call this "informal meeting" following consultations over the past several months.

"As we have repeatedly said, the purpose of this informal meeting will be to determine whether a common ground exists for the parties to negotiate a lasting solution to the Cyprus issue within a foreseeable horizon," said the UN spokesman.

Speaking on the 5+1 format, Dujarric said: "It is basically the leaders of the two communities, plus Greece, Turkey, and the UK. That format is really based on historical precedent."

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long struggle between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

The island has been divided since 1964 when ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power. The TRNC was founded in 1983.

The Greek Cypriot administration, backed by Greece, became a member of the EU in 2004, although most Greek Cypriots rejected a UN settlement plan in a referendum that year, which had envisaged a reunited Cyprus joining the EU.

S- https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/5-1-cyprus-talks-start-at-un-in-geneva/2222252


UK supports 'just, lasting' solution in Cyprus
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab hopes that all parties approach Geneva talks with 'creativity and flexibility'
Ahmet Gürhan Kartal |27.04.2021

The UK supports a “comprehensive, just and lasting resolution of the Cyprus problem,” a British government statement said ahead of unofficial talks that are to commence on Tuesday in Geneva.

“Tomorrow’s talks offer an opportunity to restart negotiations aimed at delivering a fair and lasting solution to the Cyprus issue, and we hope that all parties approach them with creativity and flexibility,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.

He said: “The UK is a strong supporter of a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Cyprus issue which remains key to resolving wider tensions in the region.”

The UN-led unofficial Cyprus conference will start in Geneva with the attendance of Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders and foreign ministers of three guarantor countries -- Turkey, Greece, and the UK.

The Turkish side is expected to set out a model of a solution at the talks in Geneva in which the two states will cooperate on the island on the basis of sovereign equality.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

The island has been divided since 1964, when ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation led to Turkey’s military intervention as a guarantor power. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was founded in 1983.

The Greek Cypriot administration, backed by Greece, became a member of the European Union in 2004, although most Greek Cypriots rejected a UN settlement plan in a referendum that year which had envisaged a reunited Cyprus joining the EU.

The 5+1 meeting will conclude on April 29.

S- https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/uk-supports-just-lasting-solution-in-cyprus/2221832

 

[T-SaGe]

'Turkish Cyprus standing firm on 2-state solution'
Nothing can come from old understanding of decades-old issue, says Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar
Muhammet İkbal Arslan |28.04.2021

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Turkish Cyprus is standing firm on the need for a two-state solution, the president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus said on Wednesday, day two of informal UN talks in Geneva on the island.
“We expressed our own views clearly. Of course, there is no change in our position and there won’t be,” Ersin Tatar told journalists in Geneva after his 40-minute presentation on the issue.
“We explained our position (on a two-state solution) in the given time frame in detail and with justification” at the 5+1 talks – both parties on the island, with guarantor countries Turkey, Greece, and the UK, plus the UN – he said.
“I said many things have changed, the context and conditions have changed,” said Tatar, recounting the island’s violent history in the 1960s, the 2004 Annan plan – which resulted in Greek Cyprus being admitted to the EU after rejecting the UN plan – and the failure of the Crans-Montana talks in 2017.
Tatar said he told of the “injustice inflicted on Turkish Cypriots by the UN, the EU and the international community. When I checked the room, I saw that everyone knew how right we were. I think everyone knows that no results can come from this old understanding.”
Tatar also thanked Turkey for completely supporting the Turkish Cypriots’ position.
Dismissing Greek media reports claiming that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reacted coolly to the need for a two-state solution, Tatar said: “They will say whatever they want. The secretary-general knew what we were going to say when he invited us.”
The three-day meeting opened in Geneva on Tuesday with Guterres aiming to seek "common ground" to resume formal negotiations to find a lasting solution to the decades-old dispute.
Guterres made an opening speech at the closed-door meeting, followed by Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades, Tatar, and later by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Greek Foreign Minister Nicos Dendias, and UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
Guterres also held separate meetings with the leaders of the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots. The talks are set to end Thursday.
Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long struggle between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
The island has been divided since 1964, when ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power. The TRNC was founded in 1983.
The Greek Cypriot administration, backed by Greece, became a member of the EU in 2004, although most Greek Cypriots rejected a UN settlement plan in a referendum that year, which had envisaged a reunited Cyprus joining the EU.


Turkish Cypriot leader presents Cyprus resolution proposal
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus president presents 6-point proposal to UN to achieve sustainable settlement
Peter Kenny |28.04.2021

Secretary General of United Nations Antonio Guterres (R) and Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar (L) are seen within the second day of the UN-led informal 5+1 Cyprus talks in Geneva, Switzerland on April 28, 2021. ( Turkish Cypriot Presidency - Anadolu Agency )


GENEVA
Seeking a fresher, fairer approach to the Cyprus issue, the Turkish Cypriot president has proposed establishing a cooperative relationship between the two states on the island, with both enjoying equal international status.
According to a document leaked to the media on Wednesday, Ersin Tatar, president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), made his six-point proposal to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a sustainable settlement to the decades-long Cyprus dispute.
Tatar made the proposal during this week's three-day informal gathering in Geneva hosted by Guterres, with the participation of the Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders, and the foreign ministers of the islands’ three guarantor countries – Turkey, Greece, and the UK.
"The Turkish Cypriot proposal is aimed at establishing a cooperative relationship between the two States on the island based on their inherent sovereign equality and equal international status," says the proposal.
It underlines that the Turkish Cypriot side did not come to this point overnight, "but after decades of long arduous negotiations that have ended in failure, having definitively exhausted all prospects for a bi-communal and bi-zonal federal settlement."
Tatar’s document calls for “results-oriented, time-framed” negotiations for a lasting solution after the equal status and sovereign equality of the two states on the island is secured.
UN-led negotiations will focus on the future relationship between the two states, as well as property, security, and border adjustment, and relations with the EU, according to the document.
On this new basis, and under the auspices of the UN secretary-general, “a freely reached and mutually acceptable cooperative agreement” will be established, it says.
Any agreement reached as a result of these negotiations will face a vote in separate simultaneous referenda in the two states on the island, according to the proposal.
Greek Cypriot response expected
Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades was expected to submit a response to Tatar’s proposition to Guterres during an evening meeting.
The informal talks, which started on Tuesday and are due to end Thursday, are meant to break the stalemate on the island and pave the way for future talks.
Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long struggle between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
The island has been divided since 1964, when ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power. The TRNC was founded in 1983.
The Greek Cypriot administration, backed by Greece, became a member of the EU in 2004, although most Greek Cypriots rejected a UN settlement plan in a referendum that year, which had envisaged a reunited Cyprus joining the EU.

Turkish Cypriot leader presents Cyprus resolution proposal

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus president presents 6-point proposal to UN to achieve sustainable settlement - Anadolu Ajansı

www.aa.com.tr

 

[aziqbal]

Cyprus belongs to Turkey full stop