TR

Presidential Spokesperson Dr. Berna Çelik Doğruyol’s Statement

President Ersin Tatar met with the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres today at 16:00. The meeting, which took place in a constructive and friendly atmosphere, lasted an hour and a half. 

President Tatar thanked Mr. Guterres for organising the 5+UN informal meeting in search of common ground between the two sides to reach a consensus on the Cyprus issue, which has been ongoing unsuccessfully for more than half a century.

Our President stated that he agrees with Guterres’ view that ‘this time it must be different.’ Emphasizing that ‘a different result cannot be achieved by doing the same thing,’ the President also stated that the negotiations on the federal ground, which have been negotiated for many years and have not been successful, serve no purpose other than maintaining the status quo, which was designed against the Turkish Cypriots and deemed ‘unacceptable’.  He explained that under these conditions, the vision of reconciliation based on the sovereign equality and equal international status built upon the cooperation of the two States, is a forward-looking and realistic compromise ground that changes the rules of the game positively.

At the meeting, which is a historical turning point, our President turned a new page and for the first time recorded  the Turkish Cypriot side’s  position expressing sovereign equality and equal international status.