President Ersin Tatar has held a tête-à-tête meeting with María Holguín Cuéllar, Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, who is paying a visit to the Island. 

Following the near to one-and-a-half-hour long meeting that was held at the Presidency,  President Tatar spoke to the press, and said he had stressed  to Ms. Holguin that the arrests of people by the Greek Cypriot side in relation to immovable properties was tantamount to “acts of terror”.

“If these arrests are not stopped, it will not be possible to progress,” President Tatar said. 

President Tatar added: “I had a good and productive meeting with Ms. Holguin, who is visiting the Island with a new mandate to help the two Sides progress on the new initiatives we had agreed at the informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format, that was convened by the UN Secretary-General in March in Geneva. Ms. Holguin is familiar with the Cyprus issue and under her previous mandate, she had written a report where she found that there is no common ground between the two Sides to start new and formal negotiations, which was also reiterated by the UN Secretary-General at the informal meeting that was held in October 2024 in New York.”
Stating that “all of these developments prepared the basis for what sort of issues can be discussed for the cooperation of two States,” President Tatar said: “Life goes on and projects, cooperation and work that will benefit both peoples will contribute to the creation of trust. . . and Ms. Holguin was reappointed.”

President Tatar said that he conveyed to Ms. Holguín the need to make progress on the six topics that had been agreed by the two leaders in the presence of the UN Secretary-General in Geneva in March, and to prepare for another informal meeting to be held in the same format that has been planned for the end of July.

President Tatar stated that he had during the informal dinner in New York in October last year, stated his disapproval and concern at the arrests of people. “I stated it then and I am stating it now. These actions by the Greek Cypriot side, which is designed to destroy our economy and to strangle us, is tantamount to terrorising our people.   The UN Secretary-General had shown sensitivity towards this issue as well. I had raised this issue again in the informal meeting in Geneva. If cooperation initiatives are being discussed and statements are being made about the creation of a new atmosphere in Cyprus, the approach of the Greek Cypriot Side only serves to undermine these efforts and escalate tensions between the two sides. Such an approach in relation to property is not acceptable. I have asked Ms. Holguin to pass on my strong concerns to the UN Secretary-General.”

President Tatar stated that these “acts of terror” against Turkish Cypriot People “were being systematically carried out” -- particularly following the appointment of the Personal Envoy, who is mandated to help the two sides make progress on the six initiatives in the run up to the planned informal meeting on Cyprus at the end of July.  “I have stated that these activities have to be stopped if there is to be progress on these topics,” the President said.  
Emphasising that there are two separate authorities in Cyprus, President Tatar said: “I stated to Ms. Holguin that the Turkish Cypriot People have the same inherent rights as the Greek Cypriot People. They are a sovereign people, administering themselves under the roof of their own State, and able to determine their own future. The factual realities on the ground in Cyprus cannot be brushed under the carpet. The Greek Cypriot Side does not have the legitimacy to represent Turkish Cypriot People nor do they have any authority in the North. The Turkish Cypriots moved North and the Greek Cypriots moved South under the Voluntary Exchange of Populations Agreement (1975).  Since then, we have governed ourselves and life continued. You cannot, after almost 50 years, after rejection settlement plans, target ordinary people who have sought to make ends-meet in order to survive. This is against human rights. It is against the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights that has endorsed the Immovable Property Commission, which provides three effective legal remedies.”

President Tatar said a settlement could be found in Cyprus that is based on sovereign equality and equal international status – a position he said he had first put forward at the 5+UN informal meeting on Cyprus, in April 2021 in Geneva, adding: “This position has strongly been supported by Guarantor Republic of Türkiye. Negotiations under the federal basis, which were on the table for more than 60 years, have all failed and negotiations under that basis has been exhausted. The Greek Cypriot Side have never accepted sharing power and prosperity with the Turkish Cypriot People on the basis of equality.”

Stating that in the current global conjuncture, the protection and maintenance of security has become even more important, President Tatar said: “The Turkish Cypriot side continues to support dialogue and to having cooperation initiatives between the two sides,  I have always put forward proposals with the aim of benefitting both the future of the Island of Cyprus and that of the Turkish Cypriot People and Greek Cypriot People.”

President Tatar also emphasised that the “real victimisation has been experienced by the Turkish Cypriot people for the last 60 years. . . and our people are facing an inhumane isolation across different levels”.  He said the “Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus has unilaterally usurped the title of the Republic of Cyprus and is benefitting from international privilege,  thus gaining the privileges of economic development and recognition. . . whilst the Turkish Cypriot side has been experiencing all kinds of victimisation and isolation.  Pressures on our tourism,  higher education and property issues have been intensified, during this period, which are aimed at intimidating the people”.
 

“The attacks are a miscalculation aimed at bringing us to our knees”

President Tatar said: “The attacks carried out in this new atmosphere, at a time when topics are being discussed which is aimed at benefitting the two peoples,  are a miscalculation aimed at making us bow and to bring us to our knees and surrender.”

President Tatar emphasised that “these issues are directly related to the survival and future of the Turkish Cypriots”.

President Tatar stated that he had also put forward to Ms. Holguin his position that he would accept direct flights, direct trade and direct contact (3Ds) as being the initial steps for the manifestation of the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot Side, and that with these, new and formal negotiations could be started. “With the passing of time, interest on this issue has decreased, because the Greek Cypriot Side is not saying ‘yes’ to anything right now,” he said.

“Despite the passing of 8-9 months – after Ms. Holguin wrote her report under her previous mandate where she determined that no common ground exists between the two sides to start new negotiations, the Greek Cypriot Side has taken action that is aimed at placing pressure and terrorising our people,” President Tatar said.

“If the arrests are not stopped, if this situation is not fixed, than it is pointless to hold meetings to discuss the other topics,” President Tatar said.   “I want everybody to understand that the Turkish Cypriot People are very upset at what is happening in relation to these property arrests and threat of being arrested and put into a prison cell. These actions do not tally with any sincerity.  These actions cannot be tolerated. I have asked Ms. Holguin to communicate this issue to the UN Secretary-General,” President Tatar said.

 

Crossing Points

President Tatar stated that he had explained to Ms. Holguin that there were a total of eight million crossings recorded in 2024, of which more than half of these took place in Metehan.  “We have put forward a constructive proposal – to open two more vehicle crossings in the Lefkoşa area in Haspolat and Akıncılar, with the objective of alleviating the traffic congestion in Metehan.  I put forward our proposals to Ms. Holguin using maps to support my position.  However, the Greek Cypriot leader is continuing to demand South-to-South transit corridors – which does not fit the definition of a crossing point."

Asked as to whether he will be meeting Ms. Holguin again, President Tatar stated that there are no such plans at the present time.   
 
Stating that there had been news reports about the possibility of a tripartite meeting, President Tatar said: “Under the present conditions, there is no point in having  a tripartite meeting. Our people are significantly upset  over the arrests.  Even those who have been critical of me for being too patriotic, are today saying there is no point in continuing dialogue under these conditions. I am facing a lot of public pressure.” The President also stressed that the UN does not approve of this course by the Greek Cypriot side either.
 
President Tatar said: “There is a State that exists in the North.  This State has a constitution, laws, regulations and activities. There is a people here and this people have economic expectations. There is a necessity to sustain their own lives. In order for all of this to happen, investments have been made here with the support of Türkiye and the efforts of our people… Properties have reached a completely different economic value. . . if they have an issue on property, they should take up the matter with the Turkish Cypriot State. If they say they do not recognise this State, they can take it up with the Republic of Türkiye. However, penalising ordinary people who have not acted against human rights laws, attacking and terrorising them in this manner is unacceptable.  I have explained our sensitivities on these issues to Ms. Holguin today,” President Tatar said.