Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman said Wednesday's meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides took place "under the shadow" of negative developments from recent days, which he said run counter to the logic of the confidence-building measures both UN Secretary-General António Guterres and UN envoy Maria Angela Holguín have described as essential groundwork for a five-plus-one meeting on the Cyprus problem. Rather than building trust between the two communities, Erhürman said in a statement posted to Facebook, these developments were further eroding it.
Confidence-building measures
On the substance of confidence-building measures, Erhürman said the Turkish Cypriot side was ready to make progress on a number of the issues Guterres has listed. These include the clearance of mines, the opening of new crossing points, the citizenship rights of children born to mixed marriages, matters relating to sport, irregular migration, and the creation of joint mechanisms for disaster management.
Political equality and methodology
Erhürman was firmer on methodology, saying political equality, along with its substance and content, forms the very essence of the Cyprus problem. He said this could not be treated as a bargaining chip against other issues, and that without clarity on political equality, no progress would be possible either on the remaining elements of methodology, including the convergences reached in previous rounds of talks, or on substantive negotiations themselves.
Weekly meetings agreed
The two leaders agreed to meet once a week going forward, in line with a proposal Erhürman had previously put forward. Holguín, the UN Secretary-General's personal envoy for the Cyprus problem, is expected to visit the island at the end of the first week of September.
Erhürman said the Turkish Cypriot side would continue to work in good faith, in line with what he described as his community's will for a settlement, and would keep raising directly with the Greek Cypriot side its concerns over negative developments during the process, the risks they pose, and what he called the tests of sincerity they represent. He closed by saying that the table remains the negotiating table, and that words are spoken face to face.
