Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu met this week with former UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Jack Straw.
Ertuğruloğlu informed Straw about the latest developments in Cyprus and the new process at the meeting which was held in London.
Ertuğruloğlu said that the Turkish Cypriot people expects the UK, one of the guarantor countries which is well acquainted with the Cyprus problem, to support the start of a new process on an equal and state to state basis.
Referring to Straw’s article published in the Independent newspaper recently, Ertuğruloğlu thanked Straw for writing and evaluating the facts on Cyprus fairly and objectively.
Foreign Minister Ertuğruloğlu holds contacts in London
Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu is holding meetings in the UK’s capital, London.
Minister Ertuğruloğlu will hold meetings with leading MPs and Peers at the UK’s Parliament, give briefings to the UK Parliament’s All Party Parliamentary Group for the TRNC, and will hold interviews with the press.
Ertuğruloğlu began his London contacts with a visit to the Turkish Embassy in London, and met with Turkish Ambassador to London, Abdurrahman Bilgiç.
Following his meeting with Bilgiç, Minister Ertuğruloğlu met with members of the UK’s parliament and the Chairs of Parliamentary Committees. They exchanged views regarding the negotiation process which was ended in Crans Montana, as well as the new process.
Foreign Minister Ertuğruloğlu also met with the former foreign secretary of the United Kingdom Sir Malcolm Rifkind.
Additionally, Ertuğruloğlu gave an interview to the leading Brussels-based Politico news channel.
Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu said that during negotiations and meetings, the UK, which is one of the guarantor countries and is closely related to the Cyprus issue, should acknowledge the requirements of the fact that there are two equal sides in Cyprus.
The Minister said that resuming the old process, which lasted for 50 years in Cyprus and ended without an agreement, could no longer be discussed. He further emphasized that the Turkish Cypriot people are not a minority but an equal partner in Cyprus.
Therefore, Ertuğruloğlu stated, the international community should support the removal of unfair isolations imposed on the Turkish Cypriot people in order that any new negotiations should take place on the basis of equality.
“It has been proven that a solution was not reached in the old process and it came to an end. The new process in Cyprus should begin on the basis of equality of both states, embargos should be lifted and the Turkish Cypriot people should be freed from the isolations. The two states can build their future in good neighbourly relations in Cyprus as it is today. The Turkish Cypriot people are expecting this from the international community. Now, Cyprus needs to be seen from a different perspective” said Ertuğruloğlu.
Çağlar: “Turkish Cypriots also left their property behind”
Speaking at the Committee of Refugees, Asylum-Seekers and Displaced Persons, Mehmet Çağlar, Deputy of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) who participated in the meetings of the Assembly of Parliamentarians representing the Republican Assembly, highlighted that a population exchange took place in 1974, and that the Turkish Cypriots as well as the Greek Cypriots, left their property behind.
According to a statement made by the TRNC Strasbourg Representative Office, the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) General Council meetings continued yesterday. The meetings were attended by CTP Deputy Mehmet Çağlar and UBP Deputy Erdal Özcenk,
Çağlar and Özcenk also attended the meetings of the committees of “Refugees, Asylum-Seekers and Displaced Persons” and “Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development” yesterday.
In his speech at the committee, CTP Deputy Mehmet Çağlar stated that a population exchange in Cyprus took place in 1974, and reminded listeners that Turkish Cypriots also left their properties behind – as well as Greek Cypriots.
Pointing out that the Turkish Cypriot side has set up the Immovable Property Commission in accordance with the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, Çağlar also gave information about the works and activities of the commission.
Çağlar emphasized that it is not possible for the Turkish Cypriots to vote in the European Parliament elections, and their status at the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly has been limited to that of an observer member.
“We hope our rights as the Turkish Cypriot community will be enhanced in the international arena” said Çağlar.
Source: TRNC Public Information Office –
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