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Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Tufan Erhurman stated that he would join a trilateral meeting with the United Nations immediately if Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides unconditionally accepts a rotating presidency, as the U.N. said such a meeting is planned for Nov. 9.
"Let him accept the rotating presidency unconditionally, and I will come right away," Erhurman said, adding he had conveyed the message through U.N. envoy Maria Angela Holguin but received no reply.
The rotating presidency is central to Turkish Cypriot demands for political equality, and Erhurman’s conditions set the tone for the first U.N.-hosted trilateral in months amid stalled confidence-building measures.
Erhurman said political equality cannot be bargained over and that linking the rotating presidency to security and guarantees was wrong.
He said he had told the Greek Cypriot side, via Holguin, that he was ready to attend a trilateral meeting in New York if agreement on two or three concrete issues was possible, but received no positive response.
"I don’t want a token meeting. I don’t want a photo-op meeting. I want to get work done," he said, adding, "I negotiate for a solution. I don’t negotiate for the sake of negotiating."
Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to reach a comprehensive settlement.
Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation of the island led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence.
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was founded in 1983 as a result.
The island has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom.
The Greek Cypriot administration (GCA) entered the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a U.N. plan to end the dispute.
The Turkish Cypriot president said no progress had been made on seven confidence-building measures raised by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, while Christodoulides came to the table with 19 new proposals.
"As if those 7 items don’t exist. Those 7 items are not included in these 19. So the 7 are still sitting there," he noted.
He said the proposals were not submitted in writing. "Honestly, we took notes but we never got to 19. We counted and counted, but couldn’t reach 19."
On Christodoulides' proposal to place the closed-off town of Maras under U.N. administration and open Famagusta Port to direct trade under EU supervision, Erhurman said a similar idea was raised in 2006. He said Famagusta Port is already open and that EU supervision would not mean direct trade begins.
Maras is part of a comprehensive settlement and should be discussed with the U.N., Erhurman said, noting the sides had failed to agree even on narrower issues such as crossing points, while Maras involves complex property, administration and security dimensions.
Türkiye's Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli on Tuesday called a united federation "a pipe dream" and said Greek Cypriot media claims on Maras and Famagusta "present a grave picture" for Turkish Cypriots.
The leaders held a "constructive" meeting in the U.N. buffer zone and continued discussions on confidence-building measures, methodology and substance, the U.N. said in a statement.
They look forward to Holguin's visit on Oct. 29 and the trilateral meeting planned for Nov. 9, the statement said.
The two leaders also agreed to continue initiatives on the environment and the exchange of cultural artifacts.
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