Erhürman: We will not shy away from diplomacy and dialogue
President Tufan Erhürman says the conditions for holding a new 5+1 meeting on the Cyprus issue have not yet been established, but stressed that the Turkish Cypriot side will continue to pursue diplomacy and dialogue.
Speaking following his meeting with Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides, Erhürman said today’s meeting had been relatively better than the previous one, with discussions focusing on confidence-building measures, methodology and substantive issues.
Referring to UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ recent remarks, Erhürman highlighted his statements that much work remained to be done and that mistakes made in previous Cyprus processes should not be repeated.
He said the Turkish Cypriot side wanted a new 5+1 meeting, but stressed that sufficient preparations and progress first had to be achieved in Nicosia to ensure that such a meeting would be meaningful and results-oriented.
Erhürman said there had yet to be agreement on any of the confidence-building measures under discussion and added that differences also remained over the Turkish Cypriot side’s four-point methodology proposal.
He said confidence-building was not limited to taking new steps but also required avoiding actions that could erode existing trust. In this context, Erhürman cited disputes over festivals, the Barcelona football school, contacts involving his Special Representative Mehmet Dânâ and European Parliament decisions which the Turkish Cypriot side considers one-sided.
Erhürman also said he had raised concerns over closer ties and agreements between the Greek Cypriot side and Israel, arguing that such developments were damaging trust.
Turning to the seven confidence-building areas raised by the UN Secretary-General, Erhürman said the Turkish Cypriot side had already accepted six. He said the only area where agreement had not been reached was the opening of new crossing points.
The other areas concern demining, a joint mechanism for disasters, cooperation on irregular migration, sport, EU citizenship for children of mixed marriages and a civil society mechanism.
Erhürman stressed that the citizenship issue concerning children of mixed marriages was also a matter of human rights.
He said he would leave the island for New York on September 23 for scheduled meetings with UN Secretary-General Guterres and his Personal Representative on Cyprus, María Ángela Holguín.
Erhürman said the New York contacts would be important in determining the roadmap for the next stage of the process.
Responding to questions about why meetings continued despite the lack of concrete results, Erhürman said the current contacts were not a negotiating table but a forum for dialogue.
He stressed that the Turkish Cypriot side would not shy away from diplomacy or dialogue, saying its objective was to produce solutions and results.
On domestic issues, Erhürman also announced that he had returned legislation abolishing the mixed-vote system to Parliament for reconsideration.
He said changes to electoral legislation should preferably not be made shortly before an election, warning that doing so could create a perception that the electoral system was being altered by the existing majority for its own benefit.
