Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar announced that the expanded informal summit on the Cyprus issue is to be held in March in Switzerland. After a meeting in the occupied territories with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, he said that “this meeting will be hosted by the UN Secretary-General and will be attended by the leaders of the two communities (Christodoulides – Tatar), the Foreign Ministers of Türkiye and Greece as mother countries (Gerapetritis – Fidan) and, to a lesser extent, a representative of the United Kingdom (probably the Secretary of State). Details of this meeting will be clarified and announced upon the arrival of UN Deputy Secretary-General Rosemary Di Carlo, who will be coming to the island shortly.”

“Insalah” (God willing), in the next period they will come to a conclusion on the issue of roadblocks, Ersin Tatar also said, inviting President Christodoulideson on January 21 to discuss this issue constructively. He reiterated that the Turkish Cypriot side wants a new crossing point opened in the Mia Milia area, as well as his opposition to the Greek Cypriot proposal for transit crossings in the villages of Pyroi and Kokkina.

Reiterating his reaffirmation of the “sovereign equality and equal international status” of Turkish Cypriots, he said that until a final solution is found on the island, there can be “cooperation between the two states.”

Ersin Tatar claimed that, as UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy Maria Angela Olgin Guayar wrote in her report, “the federation, which died with the No vote of the Greek Cypriots in 2004 and was then buried at the Crans Montana summit in 2017, is no longer a model for a solution acceptable to both parties.”

He argued that since the 1974 invasion, there has been peace and tranquility for 50 years and that Turkish Cypriots have had their own “state” for 41 years with “security and tranquility.”
We will continue to take our steps within the framework of the roadmap we have set out, aware that dialogue is meaningful when it moves from words to action, he added, arguing that “the state pseudo-state is the guarantee of peace, tranquility, and security in this region.”

His greatest wish, he added, is for the “motherland Türkiye” and the pseudo-state to continue to cooperate in peace and security in the region.

Turkey’s role as a global player, he said, has raised the status of the pseudo-state, and “no one can now abandon the state, which should be part of an agreement in the future.”

Fidan: I am optimistic about a two-state solution

For his part, Hakhan Fidan said he is optimistic about the acceptance of a two-state solution by the international community because, unlike problems in other areas of international relations, “we do not aim to change an existing reality on the ground with the proposals we make.”

Their proposal, he continued, is about recording the reality on the ground. “So, when Cyprus reaches a two-state solution, how will it differ from the current situation? The borders are the same, the people stay in the same place. Daily life will continue in the same way the next morning. Moreover, we will pave the way for greater development and greater prosperity on the island. I believe that if we explain this issue well and develop constructive relations, the international community, the Greek Cypriot side, politics, and the people of Greece will get used to this idea.”

Even before a final solution, he said, he believes the two sides can use areas of common interest. “There are steps that two civilized societies can take, related to energy and the economy, uniting the north and the south.”