TRNC News Today 1st October 2014

Foreign Minister Özdil Nami meets with Jeffrey Feltman and Herve Ladsous

Foreign Minister Özdil Nami met with Jeffrey Feltman, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, and Herve Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations of the UN Secretary-General, within the framework of his contacts in New York.

At the meeting with Feltman, Foreign Minister Nami expressed his expectation that the comprehensive negotiations will gain new impetus with the appointment of Espen Barth Eide, the new Special Advisor on Cyprus, and emphasized the significance of maintaining the previously reached convergences between the two sides in order to move the process forward. Foreign Minister Nami also reiterated the commitment of the Turkish Cypriot side to the negotiation process and stressed that he will continue to do whatever necessary to support it.

Nami also emphasized that as an impartial party, the UN has a very significant mission on the Island as well as the pertinent role of ensuring that the negotiation process moves forward in an efficient and effective manner.

The UN Secretary-General’s Under-Secretary for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, stated that the UN Secretary-General has a special interest in Cyprus and that he follows the developments pertaining to the Island closely. Feltman also expressed that the Secretary-General will continue to follow the process in close contact with his newly appointed Special Advisor on Cyprus and that Eide has assumed his new position with great dedication and enthusiasm.

At his meeting with Herve Lodsous, the Under-Secretary for Peacekeeping Operations, Foreign Minister Nami underlined the significant role of the UN Peacekeeping Force on the Island and the importance of carrying out its mandate in an impartial and principled manner. Various matters pertaining to the presence of the UN Peacekeeping Force on the Island were also taken up during the meeting.

Foreign Minister Nami takes part in a panel discussion at Yale University

Yesterday, Foreign Minister Özdil Nami spoke at a panel discussion organized by Turkish students of Yale University. Minister Nami, who is the first Turkish Cypriot Minister to speak at Yale University, made a presentation about the Cyprus issue and answered the questions of students and academicians.

During his speech, Nami emphasized that the Cyprus issue has been one of the oldest agenda items of the United Nations and expressed that since the start of negotiations in 1968, numerous rounds of talks have been held to find a mutually acceptable settlement to the Cyprus problem, but to no avail. Foreign Minister Nami underlined that the year 2004 marked a decisive moment in the perennial Cyprus negotiations when the two sides came closer than ever before to a settlement, but that this unique opportunity was lost when the Greek Cypriot side rejected the UN Comprehensive Settlement Plan known as the Annan Plan.

Furthermore, Minister Nami emphasized that on 11 February 2014, the two sides in Cyprus agreed on a Joint Declaration paving the way for the resumption of the comprehensive settlement talks after two years of stalemate.

Stating that the United Nations Secretary-General recently appointed a new Special Adviser on Cyprus who referred to the settlement of the Cyprus problem as a strategic priority for the United Nations, Minister Nami mentioned that during the first meeting of the leaders of the two sides with the new Special Adviser on 17 September 2014, agreement was reached to move on to the next phase in the negotiating process during which trade-offs are expected to take place.

Foreign Minister Nami recalled that the Turkish Cypriot side has always engaged positively and constructively in the talks and voted “yes” to the UN Comprehensive Settlement Plan of 2004, and emphasized that it is unacceptable for the Turkish Cypriots to continue living under all-encompassing isolation in all fields of life. Minister Nami added that following the Annan Plan, various members of the international community produced documents calling for the ending of the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot people, but that every step proposed to date to at least ease the isolation has been blocked by the Greek Cypriot side. Foreign Minister Nami stated the current situation is not sustainable and emphasized that Turkish Cypriots cannot and should not continue to live in a manner isolated from the rest of the world.

Minister Nami further stated that more progress could have been achieved in the negotiations to this date if Mr. Anastasiades, the new Greek Cypriot leader elected in February 2013, had committed himself to continue the negotiations from where they were left off with his predecessor. Nami added that the Turkish Cypriot Leader, on the other hand, when elected in April 2010, sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General stating that he is committed to the previously reached convergences.

Foreign Minister Nami lastly underlined that the expectation of the Turkish Cypriot side from international actors such as the United Nations and United States is for them to encourage the Greek Cypriot side to take the necessary steps with a view to finding a settlement to the Cyprus issue.

Coşkun Ulusoy : “If we live together we must play together”

Coşkun Ulusoy who played for two seasons at the Greek Cypriot football team Salamina and who has been supported by the sports community said: “Demetris Vasiliou who made an agreement with Değirmenlik Sport Club has been announced to be a traitor. I see no meaning in this. I played, Vasiliou will also play. If we live together in the same island, we must play together. My performance at Salamina won recognition both in the South and North. I have neither been a traitor nor in favour of Greeks. I was transferred and played for two seasons.

On the other hand, President of the Cyprus Turkish Football Federation (KTFF) Hasan Sertoğlu said that they do not want to exaggerate the issue however they will follow the developments. Sertoğlu said: “we gave this permission for the communities to come together. We want to show that Turkish Cypriots are affectionate and hospitable. We said to Vasiliou that Turkish, Greek or British does not make a difference for us. We do not want to exaggerate the issue however we will follow the developments”

Missing Person İsmail Emin to be buried with Military Ceremony today

It was stated that the martyr İsmail Emin, who was lost in 1964 in Paphos and found as a result of the studies executed for finding the missing persons, will be buried with a Military Ceremony at Lefkoşa State Cemetery today following the funeral prayer at İsmail Sefa Mosque in Lefkoşa Cemetery.