"We do not engage in manipulation through the media and we will not do so," he said, adding that information on where the process stands is being provided and will continue to be provided with "correct information."
The Sunday report by Politis regarding the solution plan reportedly being discussed by the UN Secretary-General's personal envoy on the Cyprus problem, Maria Angela Holguin, continues to cause turbulence. This time, an intervention came via a social media post by Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman.
In a pointed but clearly measured tone, the Turkish Cypriot leader made veiled references to what he described as "attempts to manipulate public debate and provoke the Turkish Cypriot side."
Erhürman referred to "a discussion that has been going on for days," prompted by an article by a Greek Cypriot journalist which, he noted, some had treated as entirely accurate. He also raised questions about who had leaked the information, how accurate the leaks were, and whether messages had been embedded in them that could, as he argued, provoke Turkish Cypriots or reassure Greek Cypriots that "what they want will happen."
READ HERE : What ‘Loose Solution’ Plan Holguín is Discussing
The Turkish Cypriot leader stressed that no idea can move forward without the consent of the Turkish Cypriot side and Turkey. "Nobody doubts, do they, that no idea to which we, as the Turkish Cypriot side, and the guarantor country Turkey, do not say 'yes', will be implemented?" he said pointedly.
At the same time, he made clear that the Turkish Cypriot side, as he put it, will not enter a process that would render a solution impossible, lead to endless negotiations, or entail concessions on matters of equality, security and rights. He also reiterated that there will be no deviation from the methodology and principles the Turkish Cypriot side has set out in recent years.
Erhürman also made pointed remarks directed at those who, as he said, may be seeking to push the Turkish Cypriot side into departing from its positions. "There is no room for either doubts or such enthusiasm. It is all in vain," he noted.
Responding indirectly to criticism of his stance, the Turkish Cypriot leader stressed that his side will not conduct politics through leaks or communications management. Rather than making media statements, he said, he has already convened the Political Parties Council and the Youth Coordination Body, with meetings to follow with trade unions, economic organisations and journalist groups.
"We do not engage in manipulation through the media and we will not do so," he said, adding that information on where the process stands is being provided and will continue to be provided with "correct information."
Erhürman also maintained that there is "nothing hidden," noting that several of those making public statements are aware of the real picture. He added, however, that he does not intend to explain the Turkish Cypriot side's positions through a succession of announcements or television appearances.
According to him, if the aim of certain parties is to provoke the Turkish Cypriot side with unfounded claims so that it reacts in a way that blows up the process, only to then be presented internationally as the side that does not want a solution, then, as he put it, "we will not fall for these games."
The Turkish Cypriot leader said, finally, that he is following the public debate closely and that the Turkish Cypriot side has, as he put it, "enough intelligence, experience and knowledge" to understand who is acting in good faith and who is operating with other calculations.
"From where and how we began this process, from there and in the same way we continue and will continue. We will neither fall for games nor be swept away by provocations," he concluded, assuring that he will continue to keep the Turkish Cypriot people informed "in the right ways and at the right time."
"Let our people be at ease," was Tufan Erhürman's final message.
