Speaking at an event in Istanbul on Tuesday, Turkish Cypriot President Tufan Erhürman said talks with Greek Cypriots cannot be resumed unless the political equality of both sides is guaranteed.
"This should be the state before negotiations. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is also aware that the system of negotiations in place failed to produce a solution," he said.
Erhürman was recently in New York to hold talks with the U.N. chief over the decades-old Cyprus question.
Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement. The Greek Cypriot side is recognized as a political entity by most of the international community, while the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) pushes for recognition, with the support of Türkiye.
Erhürman said they presented a four-article methodology for talks to the United Nations.
The Turkish Cypriot leader said his nation had joint and equal sovereignty rights legally on the island, from security and energy to maritime jurisdiction, rights on hydrocarbons and international trade routes, but these rights could not be exercised so far. He accused the Greek Cypriot administration of ignoring the existence of Turkish Cypriots on the island while they signed security, energy and hydrocarbon deals with Israel, the U.S., France and India. He noted that the European Union financed the Great Sea Interconnector (for electrical interconnection between Greece, the Greek Cypriot side and Israel), but even Greek Cypriots did not consider this project as economically viable.
"Despite this, the EU claims to work for a solution in Cyprus, though they seek to exclude Turkish Cypriots and Türkiye,” he lamented.
Erhürman stated that the island had strategic importance and wealth, and Turkish Cypriots should be viewed as an equal partner in the entire island. he also stressed that Türkiye should be recognized as a guarantor state.
"Regional developments demonstrate that you summon your elder brothers when you are not strong enough to fight others. This is what Greek Cypriots do. They want to summon their brothers, but everyone knows that once these brothers arrive, it is difficult to eject them,” he said. Erhürman said Greek Cypriots’ deals risked the entire island. "But it is us forced to share this risk, though we don’t share the authority,” he complained.
The president said they did not want to start negotiations with Greek Cypriots from scratch. "There should be a time frame. We don’t intend to squander our time on negotiations table,” he stated. "If they avoid negotiations, we will not go back to the status quo.”
"We will not go back to a status quo where direct commerce and flights (to the TRNC) are not allowed,” he added.