The leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, Ersin Tatar, expressed the opinion that at the moment there are no points of contact for the start of official negotiations on the Cyprus issue, and also said that he does not want the EU to be more involved in the Cyprus issue. problem.

“No one can force us to start a formal negotiation process. We cannot start formal negotiations until our sovereign equality is recognized,” Mr. Tatar said after a meeting he had on Friday afternoon in the “presidential” in occupied Nicosia with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and the head of the peacekeeping force. UN Representative in Cyprus, Colin Stewart.

At the same time, the Turkish Cypriot leader expressed his disagreement with the idea of ​​a more active involvement of the European Union in the solution of the Cyprus problem, saying that “the European Union is part of the Cyprus problem. The European Union has a Greek Cypriot side and Greece. The European Union has no place at the negotiating table.”

Regarding his forthcoming meeting with UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, Mr. Tatar said that the meeting would take place on the 15th of the month. “I have to leave for Ankara on the evening of March 15th. Because on March 16, as you know, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan invited me to a meeting of leaders organized by the Organization of Turkish States. Therefore, on the evening of October 15, I will not be here,” he said.

On the issue of confidence-building measures, Mr. Tatar said that in order to facilitate everyday life, during today’s meeting, issues such as the state of checkpoints and the opening of new checkpoints came to the fore. “We reaffirmed that we are pleased with the continuation of the dialogue and the work of the technical committees. Issues like these will be back on the agenda during DiCarlo’s visit next week.”

“Cyprus is in an earthquake zone,” continued Mr. Tatar, adding that “we believe that cooperation on this very important issue is possible. The main fault is located in the Larnaca-Limesos-Paphos area. But because it’s a small island, it has the potential and risk to affect us all.”

Answering journalists’ questions, the Turkish Cypriot leader also noted that “there are two separate states in Cyprus” and that the arms race and the growing tension in the region do not serve the interests of the parties involved. He also recalled his proposals for cooperation in the issue of hydrocarbons, renewable energy sources and the electrical connection of Cyprus with Europe through Turkey.

Source: Daily Cyprus