Following the failure of the comprehensive settlement negotiations in July 2017 due to the Greek Cypriot side’s intransigent mindset that sees itself as the sole owner of the Island and Turkish Cypriot people as minority, UN Secretary-General (UNSG) Antonio Guterres called on the parties to enter a reflection period concerning the essence and future of the negotiation process. In early 2018, UN Secretary-General appointed US citizen Ms. Jane Holl Lute, a senior United Nations official, to consult with the parties to the Conference on Cyprus to seek the outcomes of their reflection since Crans-Montana.
The UN Secretary General in his report on Good Offices Mission dated 15 October 2018, stated that he believed the roadmap to be followed should be prepared comprehensively, by acknowledging the fact that additional new ideas might be needed for a new effort to yield results. In his report, Guterres also emphasized the need to identify “Terms of Reference” so that negotiations could proceed more efficiently and result-oriented.
Ms. Lute contacted with the two sides on the Island and the Guarantor countries to determine if there is a common ground to launch a new negotiation process; however, no concrete progress has been achieved.
On 25 November 2019, the UN Secretary General met informally with the Turkish Cypriot and the Greek Cypriot leaders. After the meeting, in a written statement, the Secretary General informed that he would continue his efforts to explore the possibility to convene an informal five-plus-UN meeting, with the participation of both leaders and the Guarantor powers at an appropriate time. The Secretary General suspended his efforts toward this end until the conclusion of the Presidential elections in TRNC.
The Turkish Cypriot Presidential elections were scheduled to be held in April 2020, but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The leader of the National Unity Party and Prime Minister Ersin Tatar, an adcovate of a two-state settlement won the elections held in two rounds on October 11 and October 18, 2020.
Following the elections, UN Secretary General, in his letter dated October 26, 2020, proposed to convene an informal meeting, in line with our Minister H.E. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu’s previous offer, to determine if there is a common ground between the two sides on the Island with a view to launching formal negotiations. The Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides both stated their readiness for the meeting.
This informal 5+UN meeting, hosted by the UN Secretary General, was held on 27-29 April 2021 in Geneva with the participation of the Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides as well as the guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the UK. The meeting aimed at finding whether common ground exists to start a new negotiation process.
During the meeting, TRNC President Ersin Tatar explained in detail why the federation model failed to provide any solution to the Cyprus issue in the last 50 years. He pointed out that sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people should be reaffirmed first, and then two states can launch negotiations in order to establish a cooperative relationship. Accordingly, he submitted a written, six points proposal. [1. UN Security Council’s adoption of a new Resolution that guarantees sovereign equality and equal international status of Turkish Cypriot people, 2.Launching negotiations towards a cooperative relationship on this new basis, 3. Negotiations on the bilateral relations as well as the issues of property, security, border arrangements, and relations with the EU, 4. Negotiations to be supported by the guarantor countries and the EU as an observer when necessary, 5. Two states’ recognition of each other within the framework of a reached agreement, 6. Holding separate referenda]
On the other hand, the Greek Cyriot side did not come up with any new ideas, pursued its intransigent attitude and insisted on the resumption of the negotiations from where they were “left off” in Crans-Montana in July 2017, and supported federal model.
Following the meeting, the UN Secretary General expressed that "sufficient common ground could not be found" to launch formal negotiations between the parties, however, he would continue his efforts and another meeting would be held in the near future.
UN senior official Jane Holl Lute, who was appointed by the UN Secretary-General to consult with the parties, left her post by the end of August 2021. Currently, efforts to appoint her replacement are under way.
UN Secretary-General Guterres appointed Canadian diplomat Colin Stewart, as Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of UNFICYP replacing Elizabeth Spehar, whose term of office ended on 30 November 2021. Stewart took office on 6th December and hosted a New Year’s Reception with the participation of the two leaders on the 14th of December.
TRNC President Ersin Tatar conveyed the cooperation proposals based on the sovereign equality of the two sides with two letters dated 1 July and 8 July 2022 to the Greek Cypriot side through the UN. In the said letters, cooperation on (i) hydrocarbon resources, (ii) electricity interconnection, (iii) renewable energy, (iv) water, (v) irregular migration and (vi) demining, were proposed to the Greek Cypriot side.
In His address to the 77th General Assembly of the United Nations on September 20, 2022, pointing out that there are two separate peoples and States on the Island, and the key to the settlement is the reaffirmation of the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people, Our President made a call to the international community to recognize the TRNC as soon as possible. The essence of this call is to eliminate the difference of status between the Sides on the Island through the recognition of the TRNC by the UN member states, since the UN Security Council has not taken a step towards the reaffirmation of sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people since 5+UN unofficial meeting held in Geneva in April 2021. Hence, the deadlock on Cyprus issue would be solved.
The intransigent attitude of the Greek Cypriot side has not allowed the negotiations to succeed so far. In this framework, as long as the mindset of the Greek Cypriot side, which sees themselves as the sole owner of the Island and the Turkish Cypriot people as minority, does not change, it is not possible to reach success in any new negotiation and to establish a partnership on the Island.
On the Cyprus issue, Türkiye keeps its belief that a negotiated, just, lasting and sustainable settlement based on dialogue and diplomacy should be reached. In this regard, Türkiye acts with the vision of working on new ideas and settlement models and believes that no time should be wasted with negotiations based on open-ended, unclear, and ambiguous documents as it was the case in the past.
There are two distinct peoples, two distinct democracies and two distinct states on the Island. Negotiations towards the settlement of the Cyprus issue must be based on this reality. With this understanding, Türkiye argues that it is time to negotiate a two-state solution.
On the other hand, it is obvious that the Turkish Cypriot side suffers from the continuation of the status quo on the Island. While Türkiye advocates a result-oriented approach to find a lasting and sustainable settlement to the Cyprus issue, at the same time, she pursues an active foreign policy to end these inhumane restrictions imposed on the Turkish Cypriot people by the international community. We always emphasize that it is not fair to punish Turkish Cypriot side, who has displayed a constructive and result-oriented stance towards the settlement. Likewise, it is unfair to reward the Greek Cypriot side, who has refused the settlement since the very beginning.
We continue our efforts concerning the Cyprus issue, our National Cause with this understanding. In line with this approach, we will continue our efforts to increase TRNC’s international contacts, to enable Turkish Cypriots to be confident of their future, and to carry up their level of welfare.