President Ersin Tatar has called on the Greek Cypriot administration to recognise the Turkish Cypriot people’s sovereign equality and equal international status.

In a special interview to the Greek Cypriot newspaper Phileleftheros, Tatar explained that he had asked the British High Commissioner to invite the two leaders to London.

Stating that he told the UN Secretary General that formal negotiations could not start as there is no common ground, the President however added that he was ready for informal dialogue.

Noting that there were two separate states in Cyprus for the last 60 years, Tatar called on the Greek Cypriot side and the international community to accept this reality.

“If the sovereign equality of the Turkish Cypriots is brought to the UN Security Council and is accepted and the Greek Cypriots do not object to this then we can negotiate the Cyprus issue with all its dimensions” the President added.

In response to a question regarding the Maraş opening, he said the process was continuing adding that the properties would be returned to the real owners once the reviews of the applications are completed.

Asked if the Greek Cypriots would be able to return to their properties, Tatar said “they can do whatever they want. This is our policy. Maraş is located within the TRNC borders. It remained closed for 47 years, we thought it would be better to clean it, complete its infrastructure and help the people to return to their properties.”