TC leader Tatar says meeting with Anastasiades in New York is pointless

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said that he will be meeting with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York but that he had no planned meeting with the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades.

Speaking to NTV in Ankara, Tatar responded to questions on the Cyprus problem, the Eastern Mediterranean and Greece’s violations in the Aegean.

Tatar said that the Cyprus issue would be taken up at the UN General Assembly in New York and that he would be coming together with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres adding that he had no plans for a meeting with the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades. “Anastasiades is not a candidate, therefore there is no point in holding a meeting,” Tatar said.

Anastasiades will not be a candidate in the upcoming presidential elections in South Cyprus in February therefore it would be meaningless to hold a meeting, Tatar said. “The most important thing is to show the world, together with the Republic of Türkiye, that there are two people in Cyprus” he added.

Evaluating the proposal put forward by the Greek Cypriot administration for a UN envoy to be appointed in Cyprus, Tatar reminded that during last year's New York meeting, he called for the successor of Jane Holl Lute to be a special representative of the UN Secretary-General.

Tatar warned that the UN Secretary-General should not allow the Greek Cypriot side to interfere with the person to be appointed as the UN Envoy.

Having a special representative under the UN Secretary-General will create a position that can address members of the Security Council, Tatar added.

We specifically put forward that the person to be appointed as the new UN envoy should be the special representative to the UN Secretary-General, Tatar noted adding that when the Security Council gets involved then some problems arise.