Greek Cypriot side in ‘very constructive mood’ ahead of dinner with Tatar
The Greek Cypriot side is in a “very constructive mood” ahead of Tuesday’s informal dinner involving United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, President Nikos Christodoulides, and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Saturday.
Letymbiotis repeated his earlier statements that Christodoulides will arrive at the meeting in a “position of strength”, saying he has been “strengthened internally, having the support of the country’s political leadership, but also strengthened in terms of the diplomatic footprint Cyprus now has.”
In this regard, he referred to Friday’s holding of a summit of the heads of government of the European Union’s ‘Med9’ group and statements made on the Cyprus problem by both French President Emmanuel Macron and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Additionally, he pointed at statements made through the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council and a planned meeting with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, adding that the United Kingdom is a “penholder” in the UN Security Council, and pointing out that the country is one of Cyprus’ three guarantor powers.
“We are coming with a very constructive mood but also a constructive environment which can contribute, if there is political will on the other side, to progress,” Letymbiotis said.
Meanwhile, Tatar’s special representative Gunes Onar was keen to stress that the Turkish Cypriot side will reject any premise of discussions towards a federal solution at the meeting.
Tatar has faced pressure in recent weeks from ruling coalition party the YDP, which flanks his former party and coalition partner the UBP on the north’s political right, and as such Onar moved to offer reassurances that a federal solution would not be up for discussion.
“It is obvious that the federal model, which has been proven unsuccessful continuously … has been exhausted. The Turkish Cypriot side has stated that this model has been exhausted and officially withdrew its consent for a federation to be used as a solution model,” he said.
He added, “every process which has been attempted for so many years has failed. This situation has exhausted not only the two peoples, but also the island of Cyprus itself. We are saying it is time to talk about new things. That is why [Tatar] presented his new vision for a solution in April 2021.”
Despite his and Tatar’s rejection of a federal solution, he did say he would be willing to “establish a culture of cooperation based on the realities on the ground”.
“We are ready to work on projects which will not extend the authority of one side over the other, on the basis of mutual dependency and equality which will benefit both sides, and which will be acceptable to both sides,” he said.