Former Turkish Cypriot negotiator Özdil Nami suggested that the record of convergences achieved so far could form a document titled “Tufan Erhürman – Nikos Christodoulides Convergences”, which could serve as an important starting point and lay the foundations for a process towards a resolution.
Commenting on Wednesday's tripartite meeting in an online programme Thursday by Kibris Postasi, Nami said that regarding the five-point proposal submitted yesterday by President Christodoulides, if it is regarded as a process progressing point by point rather than as a bundle of measures, the Turkish Cypriot side should respond positively to this approach.
The first point of Christodoulides’ proposal, which concerns confirming the basis of a solution according to UN Security Council resolutions, could allow the United Nations to advance the process from that point, and significant progress could be made with such an approach, Nami continued.
He also added that the acceptance of previous convergences and the timetable element included in Tufan Erhürman’s four-point methodology give more substantive meaning and transparency to the process.
In this context, he said, work to identify the areas of convergence that have been achieved, to be conducted both through negotiators and bilateral contacts, would constitute an important initial exercise. This would transform the convergences achieved under previous leaders into a document titled “Erhürman – Christodoulides Convergences”, which could serve as a preliminary study that could be adopted and form the basis for a solution plan.
This process, he continued, could provide an important springboard for addressing both the core issues and the details of the Guterres framework, but he emphasised that a substantive outcome is impossible without the four-point framework proposed by Erhürman.
Özdil Nami stated that a solution model based on political equality implies a structure different from the Republic of Cyprus established in 1960, and he supported Tufan Erhürman’s position that the rotating presidency should, in principle, be accepted within the framework of political equality.
The rotating presidency, he said, is one of the essential elements of political equality, and it is natural to accept this principle as a precondition.
According to the former Turkish Cypriot negotiator, holding meetings involving the guarantor countries for confidence-building measures was a mistake by the UN. A more appropriate approach would have been for the UN to conduct close-range diplomacy to bring the sides closer together, and then organise an expanded conference.
Source: CNA