President Ersin Tatar pointed out that there had not yet been an official response to the cooperation proposals they conveyed to the Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Anastasiades through the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Tatar added that if the Turkish Cypriot side’s proposals are carried out on the basis of equality and without anyone’s authority creating a weight on the other side, then more beneficial cooperation will be possible in Cyprus.

President Ersin Tatar evaluated the comprehensive cooperation proposals made by the Turkish Cypriot side on July 1 and 8 to the TAK News Agency.

Pointing out that no official response had been received yet to the cooperation proposals they prepared to be conveyed to the Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Anastasiades through the UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres, Tatar noted that more beneficial cooperation can be made in Cyprus if the Turkish Cypriot side’s proposals are carried out on the basis of equality and without anyone’s authority creating a weight on the other side.

Expressing that the Republic of Türkiye is trying to explain this policy to the whole world with all its might, the President emphasized that the proposals presented by the Greek Cypriot side under the name of confidence-building measures could never be accepted.

Stating that they were informed that the proposals of the Turkish Cypriot side were conveyed to the leader of the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades and that although they did not receive an official response from the Greek Cypriot side, his spokesperson made some statements, the President stated that the news came from the Greek Cypriot side that “they will only discuss proposals that will serve for a bi-zonal, bi-communal and federal basis within the framework of the UN parameters and together with their confidence-building measures.”

President Tatar said “it is not possible for us to accept this.” Expressing the belief that the proposals put forward by the Turkish Cypriot side will contribute to the sustainability of regional stability, he said “these will also serve to create the necessary environment for a process to be initiated on the basis of equality and sovereignty within the context of our new policy.”

Reminding that it has been one year since he presented the new political framework which is based on sovereign equality and equal international status to the UN for the first time in Geneva, Tatar noted that all these were presented to all relevant parties at the tripartite meeting in New York in October 2021 with the full support of motherland Türkiye adding that the new policy was also supported by Ankara.

“The trap aimed at the Turkish Cypriots is to spread Greek authority over us and dilute the sovereignty of the TRNC under the name of the so-called Republic of Cyprus. What they say is you will transfer the port to the control of the European Union, you will transfer the airport to the control of the UN and you will transfer Maraş to the UN. All these are evil-minded suggestions aimed at destroying the sovereign equality of the Turkish Cypriot People and the TRNC and to register the sole sovereignty of the Greek Cypriot side on the island with our own admission. What the Greek Cypriot Administration is saying is ‘we will only enter a negotiation process within the framework of UN parameters, which has not yielded any results for 50 years.’ And that is a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation. In line with our new policy, we stated that there are two sides in Cyprus. We say that things can be done with the cooperation of the two sides, we are talking about the cooperation of two states” President Tatar said.

Pointing out that the Turkish Cypriots strengthened their position with their own state, the TRNC by exercising their sovereign right to the fullest and that this is a condition for achieving equivalence between the parties in Cyprus and reaching a sustainable solution, he stated that this whole policy was aimed at creating the conditions for reconciliation and the basis for vested rights adding that the UN also respected this.

Stating that the Greek Cypriot administration insisted on an agreement on a federal basis, he emphasized that this model, which gives superiority to the Greek Cypriot side and rejects a solution on the basis of truly sovereign equality, was unacceptable.

Noting that as the Turkish Cypriot side they submitted comprehensive proposals rather than confidence-building and creative measures which will be for the benefit of the two peoples on the island and further increase the cooperation between the two sides, Tatar said the proposals which are stated under four headings on 1 July and two headings on 8 July were submitted to the UN official to be forwarded to the Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Anastasiades through the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Stating that the most important of these proposals was the establishment of a joint committee for the research and marketing of hydrocarbon wealth, he said this committee could be under the auspices of the UN and would be in a position on the basis of equality with representatives of the two existing states where no one’s authority would be imposed on the other side.

Explaining that another proposal was to be interconnected to the EU via Türkiye, which is only 40 miles away from Cyprus, President Tatar by noting that the EU countries are interconnected to each other said that both the North and the South can be connected to the EU via the existing transmission lines in Türkiye.

Reminding that there was such an interconnected system between the North and South at the moment, Tatar said “the connection of South Cyprus to Europe is at least 700 miles. 40 miles is much closer when compared to 700 miles. It is difficult, costly and takes a lot of time to make cable connection in the depths of the sea. However, a cable to be connected to Türkiye can be completed in a very short time. Türkiye also supports this project.”

Pointing out that another proposal was about cooperation on solar energy, Tatar noted that one proposal was about water resources.

President Tatar explained that in addition to the protection and development of water resources, cooperation can be made with the South on water, which is 75 million cubic meters per year and brought from Türkiye.

Reminding that in addition to these four proposals he also presented two more proposals on the 8 July, he explained that this included the clearing of mines.

“There are mines in 29 different regions and the UN is also keen on clearing them but that this should be done seriously and in cooperation” Tatar said.

Pointing out that another proposal was on irregular migration, Tatar stressed that they presented a proposal to evaluate this process with a joint committee to be established by the authorities of the two sides.

“We have a policy based on two states and sovereignty. On this ground, we are ready for institutional cooperation between the two sides. We are ready to negotiate the depth and width of this without prejudice and to address the relevant topics for this. By emphasizing this, cooperation will be possible for the benefit of both peoples if our proposals are maintained on the basis of equivalence and without spreading anyone’s authority to the other side. I believe that these will also contribute to the sustainability of regional stability” President Tatar added.