Before leaving Switzerland, President Akıncı evaluated the Cyprus Conference, which took place from 28 June to 7 July 2017 in Crans-Montana, at a press conference. Akıncı said that they are saddened by the outcome, but that they did their utmost to find a solution.
Pointing out that he carried out the negotiations together with the negotiating team during the last two years of the 50-year-old Cyprus problem, Akıncı said, “The real architect of the five-party conference is the Turkish Cypriot side. If we had not made such steady and persistent efforts in this regard, I believe that this process would not have come to this stage, it could not have”.
Stating that it was possible to create an environment from which both sides win, and that they were very close to that point, Akıncı said, “Unfortunately, no result has been achieved and now both sides lost”.
Akıncı emphasized that he wants to make an objective assessment and that all his work has been carried out to establish a bi-communal, bi-zonal federal structure in which Turkish Cypriots would live in equality, security and freedom, and added, “Of course if these conditions will not be available, I cannot recommend our people to make an agreement”
Stating that the Greek Cypriot side said that the failure of the conference was due only to military and security issues, Akıncı pointed to the UN Secretary-General Guterres’ statement and stressed that the failure was not because of the military issue.
Akıncı also said that there was a difference in approach from the beginning of the talks, and claimed that the Greek Cypriot side insistently tried to turn the conference into a conference on security and guarantees.
Erdoğan: “We have a Plan B and Plan C”
In a press conference during the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan evaluated the Cyprus Conference, which has failed after 10 days of negotiations in Switzerland. He said, “The second session of the Cyprus Conference which started on 28 June has been unsuccessful despite all our efforts. The self-sacrificing efforts and the sincere attitudes of both Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side were not reciprocated and we are very saddened by the result. This outcome reached after such long efforts shows the impossibility of finding a solution within the framework of the UN parameters. There is no point in insisting on these parameters any longer”.
Turkey will continue its efforts to find a solution to the problem within different parameters. We expect the same attitude from all related parties. Otherwise, we will assess plans B and C.
Erdoğan also said that they will share the decisions taken in relation to the Cyprus issue with their counterparts.
Özgürgün: “UN Officials should make it clear that a solution cannot be reached within the framework of the UN Parameters”
Prime Minister Hüseyin Özgürgün said that UN Officials should make it clear that a solution cannot be reached within the framework of the UN Parameters, or otherwise uncertainty will continue.
Speaking at an activity, Özgürgün said that the argument that says that nothing can happen if there is no agreement is not true, and that there are many things that can be done even if there is no agreement. Ozgurgun added that the outcome of the Cyprus Conference is due to events from the past.
Indicating that the Turkish Cypriots demand a solution within the framework of the UN parameters which are bi-communality, political equality of the two people and the equal status of two constituent states, Ozgürgün said that the Greek Cypriot side has been rejecting these parameters for 48 years.
The Prime Minister stressed that the Turkish Cypriot people’s only wish is equality, and that they deserve a decent life just like the Greek Cypriots. He also added that the Turkish Cypriots have never proposed to unite the island with Turkey unlike Greek Cypriots who advocate for unification with Greece.
Yildirim : “Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side delegations have done everything they could”
Speaking about the Cyprus Conference, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said, “Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side delegations have done everything they could to find a solution”.
Answering questions from the press, Yıldırım said, “Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side delegations have done everything they could and made a huge effort to have a constructive attitude from the beginning. The Turkish side has always said that they really wanted a solution. However, the unilateral EU membership of the Greek Cypriot side after the referendum in 2004, has prepared the ground for what happened in the conference.
Yıldırım continued, “The Greek Cypriot Administration of South Cyprus did not have a constructive attitude, which was easy for them because they already are an EU member. The issue of ‘Security and Guarantees’ is our sine qua none and there cannot be any concessions on this because we don’t want the terrible events of the past to be repeated”.
Atun participates in the 22nd World Petroleum Congress
Minister of Economy and Energy Sunat Atun is participating in the 22nd World Petroleum Congress that started in Istanbul yesterday.
The congress, of which the main theme is ‘Bridges to our Energy Future’, will continue until the 13th of July and the issues of oil, gas, energy efficiency and regional energy development will be discussed. (BRTK)
Source: TRNC Public Information Office –
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