Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Ünal Üstel said Thursday that any lasting settlement to the decades-long Cyprus dispute must begin with recognition of the Turkish Cypriots' sovereign equality and equal international status, following U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' latest contacts on the island.
In a written statement issued after Guterres' meeting with the leaders of the two sides, Üstel said the U.N. chief's visit demonstrated that the political realities on the island "can no longer be ignored" and argued that future negotiations should be based on those realities rather than past frameworks.
He underlined that a fair, permanent and sustainable agreement could only be achieved after the Turkish Cypriots' inherent rights, sovereign equality and equal international status are acknowledged. Without those principles, Ustel said, any new negotiating process would have little chance of success.
Reiterating the Turkish Cypriot leadership's longstanding position that Cyprus is home to "two separate peoples, two separate democracies and two separate states," he added that efforts to revive a federation-based settlement model had repeatedly failed and would not provide a lasting solution.
The prime minister also criticized the Greek Cypriot administration's continued efforts to resume talks from where negotiations ended at Crans-Montana in 2017. He said the Turkish Cypriot side would not participate in negotiations that were unlikely to produce results, would consume time or would reopen issues affecting what he called the Turkish Cypriot people's acquired rights.
"What's important is not holding meetings, but establishing a realistic framework that guarantees the rights of the Turkish Cypriot people," Üstel said.
He also noted Ankara's role as a guarantor and the presence of Turkish troops on the island as indispensable for the security of Turkish Cypriots and for peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, emphasizing those issues were not open for negotiation.
Despite the political disagreements, Üstel said his government would continue supporting practical cooperation aimed at improving daily life and promoting mutually beneficial initiatives between the two sides.
However, he said such cooperation would not come at the expense of the Turkish Cypriots' statehood, sovereign equality or equal international status.
