United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is vying for time regarding the Cyprus problem, knowing there is no common ground between the two people on the divided island, the foreign minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) said Thursday.
"We do not expect much from the U.N. It is obvious that the U.N. has not solved any political problem so far," Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu said in Washington after a meeting between Guterres, TRNC President Ersin Tatar, and Nicos Anastasiades, leader of the Greek Cypriot administration.
He pointed out that Guterres said after this April's informal talks in Geneva that there was no common ground between the parties and a second meeting was to be held to explore more possibilities.
Diplomats last April had tried to make headway to end the decades-old conflict between rival Greek and Turkish Cypriots that destabilizes the Eastern Mediterranean and is a key source of tension between NATO allies Greece and Turkey. The gathering, dubbed the U.N.+5, was attended by the foreign ministers of Cyprus’ three guarantors – Greece, Turkey and Britain.
However, Guterres said that there is "no common ground yet" to resume formal negotiations on the settlement of the Cyprus problem.
It has been almost six months, but there has been no meeting, Ertuğtuloğlu told reporters.
"In my opinion, this is a tactic of the U.N. secretary-general; he plays for time as he knows that there is still no common ground," he added.
The TRNC official said the Greek Cypriot administration has shown no signs of flexibility, so Guterres should inform the U.N. Security Council "as soon as possible" that there is no common ground and the council should make a decision.
‘A problem of status'
"They should know that there is no question of starting negotiations as long as the Greek Cypriot administration is treated as a state and we are treated as a society," Ertuğruloğlu asserted.
"They may not recognize the TRNC, but not recognizing the TRNC does not mean that the TRNC does not exist."
U.N. officials approach TRNC representatives in a way that they tell us "you are right, but you don't have much to take," he added.
"The Cyprus problem is a problem of status," the TRNC foreign minister said.
While Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration support a federation on Cyprus, Turkey and the TRNC insist on a two-state solution reflecting the realities on the island.
The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong struggle between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement. Five decades of Cyprus talks have led nowhere.
The island has been divided since 1964 when ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power. The TRNC was founded in 1983.
The Greek Cypriot administration, backed by Greece, became a member of the European Union in 2004, although in a referendum that year most Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N. settlement plan that envisaged a reunited Cyprus joining the EU.