Amid ongoing developments in the Cyprus issue, attention has once again turned to the composition of the Technical Committee on Youth from the Turkish Cypriot side. Despite announcements by Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman, no changes have yet been made to the members representing the Turkish Cypriot community.
Speaking on a television programme on 19 June, Erhürman was asked about the current make-up of the Turkish Cypriot delegation to the committee.
According to Turkish Cypriot newspaper Kıbrıs Postası, he was told that the committee continued to operate with the team selected under the previous Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar.
"Do we still see the Technical Committee on Youth operating with the team chosen by the previous leader, Ersin Tatar? Have you changed your mind?" he was asked.
In response, Erhürman said he had already announced that the committee's composition would change and that the preparatory work had been completed.
"I have already announced that the composition of the bicommunal Technical Committee on Youth will change. The young people involved know this. The work has also been completed. I believe I will announce the new composition on Wednesday, 26 June," he said.
He added that all young people in the Turkish Cypriot community were equally important and that appointments would be based on merit.
"For me, all young people in this community are equally important and will be assessed on merit. Of course, the new composition will include young people from both the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) and the National Unity Party (UBP)," he said.
Weeks pass without announcement
Despite those remarks, several weeks have passed since the date indicated by Erhürman without any announcement regarding changes to Turkish Cypriot representation on the bicommunal committee.
The delay comes at a time when significant developments are expected on the Cyprus issue, particularly the upcoming visit of UN Secretary-General António Guterres to Cyprus later this month.
Guterres is expected to arrive on 27 July and hold a series of meetings over the following days.
He is expected to meet separately with Erhürman and President Nikos Christodoulides, followed by what is expected to be a trilateral meeting involving the UN chief and the two leaders.
The UN secretary-general is also expected to meet members of the bicommunal technical committees and representatives of civil society organisations.
Against this backdrop, Kıbrıs Postası has questioned whether the announcement of changes to the Youth Committee has been postponed until after Guterres' visit.
If so, the new line-up would be announced at least a month after the date originally indicated by Erhürman.
Process began in April
Discussions over changes to the committee formally began on 1 April.
On that date, the Youth Coordination Platform, which brings together 26 youth organisations, met to discuss Turkish Cypriot representation on the Technical Committee on Youth.
The meeting examined whether the reshuffle should be partial or complete, how new members should be selected and whether youth wings of political parties should participate in the process.
Following the consultations, it was decided that Turkish Cypriot representation on the committee would be comprehensively reviewed by Erhürman, without the use of party or other quotas.
It was also agreed that the participation of all existing members would be reconsidered from scratch.
However, despite Erhürman's earlier statement that the preparatory work had been completed, the new composition of the committee has yet to be made public.
