According to the information given by the Presidency, President Ersin Tatar received the US Ambassador to South Cyprus Judith G. Garber, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State overseeing policy for Southern Europe and the Caucasus, Erica Olson at the Presidential Palace.
During the meeting, President Tatar stated that they can negotiate the solution of the Cyprus problem in case of registration of the sovereign equality right of the Turkish Cypriot people.
Touching upon the historical process in Cyprus during the meeting, President Tatar pointed out that Turkish Cypriots are at least as sovereign as Greek Cypriots, that sovereign equality is a natural/acquired right, and that they are ready to start meaningful formal negotiations if the sovereign equality right of the Turkish Cypriot people is registered.
Reminding that the European Union did not keep its promises to the Turkish Cypriots and that the unfair isolation of the Turkish Cypriots continues, President Tatar said that the Turkish Cypriot people have been self-governing for 60 years and they have their own state with all its institutions and organizations. Tatar also added that despite the Turkish Cypriots saying “yes” to the 2004 Annan Plan supported by the UN and the Greek Cypriots rejecting it, the Greek Cypriots were unjustly made a unilateral member of the EU. The President noted that the EU cannot be objective because Greece and South Cyprus are members of the EU.
President Tatar expressed that the Turkish Cypriot side is inclined toward the issues that will truly increase trust and cooperation between the two sides and will contribute to reconciliation on the basis of sovereign equality, and is ready to take initiative.
Ersin Tatar also underlined that they expect the foresighted contributions of the USA in reaching a sustainable reconciliation based on the natural/acquired rights of the parties in Cyprus.
Source: TRNC Public Information Office
