The UN Secretary-General’s interest in the Cyprus issue is continuing, and a new initiative is expected to be on the agenda from July, but this should not be seen as a new plan, Tufan Erhürman said in remarks to a Turkish Cypriot news agency.
According to reports in the north, Erhürman recalled his meeting in Antalya with UN Deputy Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo and said that although Secretary-General António Guterres is nearing the end of his term, his strong interest in Cyprus remains.
He repeated that a new initiative by the UN Secretary-General is expected to be on the agenda “after the elections in the south and the completion of the European Union presidency”, referring to the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Cyprus and Cyprus’s presidency of the Council of the EU. This does not mean a new plan, as has been reported, he added, but should rather be interpreted as a signal that Guterres is once again directly involved and ready to work seriously on the issue. How this initiative will develop, Erhürman said, will become clear over time.
According to Erhürman, the overwhelming majority of the Turkish Cypriot community wants a solution, and that message should be interpreted correctly. Referring to the four-point methodology, he said the Turkish Cypriot side has no intention of giving up what it sees as its rights in areas such as political equality, a partnership of equal status, energy and security.
He also said this methodology is not a precondition or a list of unilateral interests, but the result of an assessment of why previous negotiating processes failed. Their aim, he said, is not “negotiation for the sake of negotiation”, but the creation of a framework that will lead to a solution. He added that it is now necessary to act on the understanding that “this time will be different”, echoing a phrase previously used by Guterres.
Since Crans-Montana, he continued, trust has weakened because of lost time and new sources of tension. As a first step, he said, concrete measures are needed to restore confidence both between the leaders and between the two communities. “Our effort is not to appear to be working, but to work in earnest. We prioritise the will to find a solution and are trying to chart a course towards one,” he said.
Erhürman said a new meeting with Nikos Christodoulides is planned for the end of the month and that some concrete progress has been made in the framework of confidence-building measures. There has been improvement at the Agios Dometios crossing point, he said, while the issuing of vehicle permits has begun at the Zodia crossing point. More specific announcements on other issues may be made at the end of the month.
On halloumi, Erhürman said an agreement has been signed after five years of delay, which he described as an important step, but added that this does not mean exports will begin the next day. He said the issue of the sheep’s milk quota is evolving and is not a problem affecting only the Turkish Cypriot side, as there is a similar issue on the Greek Cypriot side as well. For this reason, he said, they have proposed the creation of a bicommunal technical committee, or a special subcommittee under the Technical Committee on Economy, to deal with the halloumi issue. “Halloumi is a shared product. The problems must be addressed jointly,” he said.
He added that the requirement to be “disease-free” under the Green Line Regulation is also an issue that needs discussion, saying that the fact that halloumi exports have not stopped despite the widespread outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on the Greek Cypriot side calls for a review of the terms applied to the Turkish Cypriot side. He said this issue has also been raised in their contacts with the European Union.
Referring to the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, Erhürman said contacts with the Organisation of Turkic States, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the European Union are important not only for efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue, but also for ending what he described as the “isolation” of Turkish Cypriots and enabling them to come into direct contact with the international community.
He said observer status for the breakaway entity within the Organisation of Turkic States and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation should lead to more intensive political, cultural, sporting and commercial contacts, and should become more visible and effective in those areas.
He also said relations with the European Union should not be limited exclusively to the Cyprus issue and that, in his contacts with EU representatives and ambassadors of member states, he stressed the need for confidence-building measures between the EU and the Turkish Cypriot side.
Meeting with Erdoğan
On his meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul before the forum, Erhürman said it was positive, useful and productive, and that they had the opportunity to coordinate on the latest developments concerning Cyprus.
He referred to the importance of Erdoğan’s speech at the dinner held in honour of the 152nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, drawing attention to the Turkish president’s calls for a fair, lasting and sustainable solution to the Cyprus issue and for an end to what he described as the “isolation” of Turkish Cypriots. The basis for the call to end that “isolation”, he argued, lies in the report submitted by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan after the 2004 referendums.
Marking 23 years since the opening of the crossing points on 23 April 2003, Erhürman said it was an important turning point in Cyprus’s history. Referring to the referendum process of 24 April 2004, he said it was an important lesson drawn from a major lost opportunity for a settlement.