Newsroom
Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman says he is ready to meet President Nikos Christodoulides every week but insists that serious groundwork must be completed before another wider conference on the Cyprus problem is called.
In a Facebook post, Erhurman pointed to remarks made by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres before leaving Cyprus.
According to Erhurman, Guterres said both Cypriot sides and the three guarantor powers had agreed in principle to attend another meeting in the 5+1 format, provided there was adequate preparation.
The format brings together the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides, guarantors Greece, Turkey and Britain, and the United Nations.
Preparatory work would need to cover confidence-building measures, the way future discussions would be conducted, and the main issues at the heart of the Cyprus dispute.
Guterres, Erhurman said, does not want to call another meeting that ends without progress. Instead, the U.N. chief wants a properly prepared conference that could open a real path toward a settlement.
“If there is a desire for a 5+1 meeting, there are clear tasks for Nicosia,” Erhurman wrote, arguing that the secretary-general’s message was clear and required little interpretation.
He also repeated that he is willing to meet Christodoulides once a week. Erhurman said the offer was made in front of Guterres as the leaders left their meeting and was repeated publicly shortly afterwards.
The comments appear aimed at pushing the conversation away from general statements of support for a settlement and toward regular meetings and agreed preparation.
Erhurman criticized people on both sides of the divide who say they want a solution but then add conditions that keep the current situation in place. He also took aim at those who appear more interested in keeping negotiations alive than in securing an actual result.
After decades of failed initiatives, interrupted negotiations and carefully worded declarations, that frustration will sound familiar to many Cypriots. Another meeting alone is unlikely to impress a public that has watched one diplomatic effort after another end without an agreement.
Erhurman said the work ahead was clear and that his side would move forward one step at a time.
“We are ready, within the framework of the will of our people, for a solution,” he concluded. “The rest are just empty words.”
