Statement by the Presidency of the TRNC
We consider the statement made by the President of the United Nations
Security Council on July 23, 2021, which has been issued in the face of
pressure from the Greek Cypriot side and Greece, as unprincipled. While the
TRNC Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already issued a statement on this
matter, we would like to reiterate the following points.
Resolutions 550 (1984) and 789 (1992) of the United Nations Security Council
and the statement of the President of the Security Council dated October 9,
2020, are aimed at preventing the settlement of Varosha by people other than
its inhabitants, and, in order to facilitate this, the transfer of the said
area to the administration of the UN.
The transfer of the said area to UN administration was thus envisaged as a
means to prevent the settlement of Varosha by people other than its former
inhabitants.
The Turkish Cypriot side is in fact fulfilling the aim stipulated in the
relevant UN Security Council resolutions by opening the door to facilitate
the return of the inhabitants of Varosha through the
internationally-sanctioned Immovable Property Commission.
Since the Turkish Cypriot side will open the fenced-off area of Varosha
exclusively to its inhabitants in accordance with international law, the
transfer of the area to UN administration in the way it has been envisaged
in the aforementioned resolutions, that is, in order to make this possible,
is now irrelevant.
The statement made by the President of the Security Council on July 23,
2021, under pressure from the Greek Cypriot side, thus overlooks the purpose
of the relevant resolutions, instead highlighting the transfer of Varosha to
UN administration, thereby obstructing the prompt realisation of the main
objective.
For this reason, we condemn the statement of the President of the Security
Council which amounts to an attempt to obstruct the granting of restitution
of properties in the fenced-part of Varosha to those claimants.
On the other hand, while the UN Secretary-General has acknowledged at the
last Geneva meeting that there is no common ground to start formal
negotiations between the two sides, and while UN Senior Official Jane Holl
Lute is involved in efforts to find such common ground, we see a serious
inconsistency in the statement of the President of the Security Council,
where it is stated that the Security Council reaffirms its commitment to an
enduring, comprehensive and just settlement in accordance with the wishes of
so called "Cypriot people", based on a bicommunal, bizonal federation with
political equality, as set out in relevant Security Council resolutions.
We would like to take this opportunity to underline the fact that there are
two peoples and two sovereign States in Cyprus with sovereign equality and
equal international status.
President Ersin Tatar will continue to pursue his efforts aimed at reaching
a sustainable, win-win settlement in Cyprus on the basis of the sovereign
equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot side based on
the proposal he has submitted at the five-plus-UN informal meeting held in
Geneva.