The latest proposals made by President Ersin Tatar to build cooperation between the two sides are not just for the sake of making proposals and should not be disregarded, Tatar’s Special Representative Ergün Olgun said in an interview to the Anadolu News Agency on Thursday.

“These proposals are designed to serve the interest and benefit of all the stakeholders in the region, they will leave their mark,” Olgun said.

Evaluating the Turkish Cypriot side’s latest cooperation proposals on hydrocarbons, electricity, renewable energy and water to the Anadolu Agency, the President’s Special Representative Ergün Olgun said that the proposals were based on two parallel axels.

“The main axel is based on what is needed to be done in order to reach a sustainable solution to the Cyprus Problem. In addition to taking into account the root causes of the Cyprus Problem, the solution model must be on the basis of the vested equal rights of the two sides,” he said.

Olgun reminded that one of the root causes of the Cyprus Issue was the Greek Cypriot side’s perception that the island was Greek and thus its rejection of the Turkish Cypriot side’s legitimate, earned and vested rights.

He pointed out, that despite the absence of negotiations, a mechanism aimed at addressing the joint problems of the two sides and easing the daily lives of Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots was in place since President Ersin Tatar came to office.

“The cooperation proposals made could lead to the creation of various cooperation mechanisms as well as a culture to collaborate on a variety of issues, contributing to the building of trust and conditions for a solution,” Olgun said.

The special representative pointed out that the proposal concerning the issue of hydrocarbons was extremely important as the transition to greener energy will make fossil fuels redundant as of 2040.

He added the most feasible way of utilizing natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean was transporting it to Europe via Türkiye, which was what the proposal was aiming at.

Olgun explained that the latest proposal included energy firms already carrying out exploration and drilling activities in the area.

Ergün Olgun also said that the issue of interconnecting the island’s energy grids with that of Europe was important in terms of lowering energy costs on both sides of the island.

“In light of the fact that Cyprus is geographically located in an area which will be deeply impacted from climate change, it is vital that we work together on conserving and using our scarce water resources in the best possible way. The proposal we have made on the creation of a joint mechanism to use our resources rationally is an important step,” he said.

Reminding that the proposals had been passed on to the Greek Cypriot side by the Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas in the United Nations Department of Political Affairs Jenca Miroslav as well as delivered to the UN Secretary-General through the TRNC Representation Office in New York, Olgun said that they expected the UN to encourage the Greek Cypriot side to approach these proposals with a positive outlook.

“These proposals have not been made just for the sake of making proposals and should not be disregarded. They are designed to serve the interest and benefit of all the stakeholders in the region, they will leave their mark. Our proposals have the potential of coming to life in due course,” he added.