The UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Cyprus and head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) Colin Stewart visited the National Unity Party (UBP) on Tuesday where he met with the UBP General Secretary Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu.

During the meeting, Colin and Hasipoğlu exchanged views on the Cyprus issue, the UBP’s vision on foreign policy, the UN’s status on the island, the effects of the Ukraine-Russia war and cooperation possibilities in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In a written statement regarding the meeting, the UBP General Secretary said that he and several of his colleagues informed the UN Special Representative on the UBP’s vision.

Reminding that the federation model had been discussed for decades within the framework of the parameters put forward by the UN, Hasipoğlu said that efforts to reach a settlement on the basis of this model were exhausted.

He added that it won’t be easy to solve this issue by following the same methods.

Referring to the importance of two separate states and equal sovereignty for the Turkish Cypriot side, he said a solution which will involve two separate entities under which the island’s two peoples live side by side will be beneficial of both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots in the long term.

Hasipoğlu also said that he had conveyed to Stewart that the Turkish Cypriots were as sovereign as the Greek Cypriots on the island, reminding him that the Turkish Cypriots had been forcefully kicked out from the partnership state in 1963.

The UBP General Secretary explained that the different forms of administration that evolved over the years into what is the TRNC today was proof of the Turkish Cypriot people’s efforts to continue its existence on the island with the support of Turkiye.

He said the Greek Cypriot administration’s claim to represent the whole island and UN resolutions on Maraş were all outdated and should all be revised in line with the realities on the island and on the basis of justice.