TRNC News Today 8th January

2014

CYPRUS TO BE AGENDA IN ANKARA

Stating that the consultation with Ankara continues, President Eroğlu explained that he would have some contacts with the Turkish President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the following days and the agenda would be the Cyprus issue.

Stressing that making any agreement regarding the Cyprus issue should be based on a strong foundation, Eroğlu recorded: “Cyprus Turkish people should be in peace and safety under the structure to be founded. For this, continuation of the full and effective guarantee of Turkey is the first condition. The second condition is the establishment of the partnership state by the two founding states. This is the main issue which we discuss with the Greek Cypriots.”

Expressing that behaving cautiously was inevitable in this process, Eroğlu noted: “What is desired in the world is to have an agreement in Cyprus. Well, is the world fair? We are people who live under the embargoes today. Unfortunately, the ones who impose embargoes on us are the states desiring an agreement in Cyprus.

Pointing out that those embargoes should be lifted; Dervis Eroğlu drew attention to two historical mistakes. Eroğlu continued: “The United Nations Security Council has made one of these mistakes. As the UN Peace Force came to the island on 4th March 1964, they recognized the Greek Cypriots as the Republic of Cyprus. It had been said that this was a temporary decision taken to stop the bloodshed. But this decision has been valid since 1964. The Greek Cypriot side has been a member of the UN. Also the European Union has made the second historical mistake. While there has been an unresolved issue, it has taken the problematic country, South Cyprus, into the European Union. These two historical mistakes have carried the Greek Cypriots’ disagreement up to now.”

Reminding that convergences had been experienced in some issues in the negotiations held with the Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias, Eroğlu pointed out that the Turkish Cypriot side has made efforts to convert these convergences into an agreement and drew attention to the Greek Cypriot side’s objection.

Stating that Downer would present a report regarding the Cyprus negotiations to the UN Security Council on 22ndJanuary, Eroğlu remarked: “Downer said during his last visit that if an agreement cannot be reached on the joint statement, there are four alternatives. We think that he will come with some documents.”

PRESIDENT EROĞLU: ‘LET’S LEAVE THIS DOCUMENT EXCHANGE’

President Derviş Eroğlu stated that the sides would not reach an agreement by exchanging the documents before sitting at the negotiation table and added that they have made their last proposal regarding the joint statement. Eroglu said ‘Let’s leave this document exchange and sit at the negotiation table’.

At his reception yesterday, President Eroğlu said that the document of the Turkish Cypriot side should be taken as a basis so that a viable agreement can be reached after sitting at the negotiation table.

Moreover, referring to the comments regarding writing a short document instead of a joint statement before launching the negotiations, President Eroğlu asked ‘What will the short document include?’ and said ‘ We spoke with the UN Secretary General and this is our last document’.

ÖZDIL NAMI: “EVERY PROBLEM CAN BE OVERCOME”

TRNC Foreign Affairs Minister – Özdil Nami made a remark on the joint statement and said that there are serious convergences between the two sides and there is progress except some expression of differences.

Stating that in the joint statement, the principles of single sovereignty, single international identity and single citizenship are in a format that will be approved by the two sides; Özdil Nami said that now there are expressions like additional powers, internal citizenship and founding state. Nami stated that there is progress when the point started and reached are compared, and added that when the UN Secretary General’s Special Advisor on Cyprus – Alexander Downer comes to the island, the conclusion will be reached, there is not any issue that cannot be overcome.

The Foreign Affairs Minister gave information about the developments on the Cyprus problem and studies of the ministry in a television program.

Özdil Nami pointed out that the demands ‘including an expert from the EU at the negotiation table’ and ‘reinstitution of Maraş before negotiations’ which are wanted to be added in the joint statement become a problem, and the issue of guarantor-ship has disappeared from the agenda.

Nami said: “If a common language is produced on the issues of citizenship, sovereignty and international identity which is written in black and white and the additional powers are accepted to belong to the founder states, and the expression of the founder state was protected, the issue is whether an expression like: ‘none of the sides can exert sovereignty over the other’ will be or not be, then I don’t see any problem which cannot be overcome.

He said:“The major concern of the Turkish Cypriot side is, there will be single sovereignty which means membership to the UN, but if things halt in the future, the community which has the majority of the population will own the single sovereignty and the world will be obliged to accept this”.

Özdil Nami pointed out that the concern of the Greek Cypriot side is, if there is an expression which says two separate sovereignties then the Turkish Cypriot side may use this for separation in the future.

Nami said “To find another language by bringing these together is not difficult at all. A formula such as ‘the sides cannot singly use the sovereignty’ can be produced”. Nami said this will be discussed when Downer comes to Cyprus and emphasized that there will be minor subjects to be discussed, some will react to the word ‘minor’, but when compared with the issues overcome up to today, these are not issues that cannot be overcome.

Source: TRNC Public Information Office