Nicosia, Cyprus. Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman said the European Union should support efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem from outside the negotiating table rather than participate directly in future talks. He also said the process was continuing in full consultation and coordination with Ankara.
Position on future talks
Speaking to Turkish newspaper Gazete Pencere after a meeting with the UN secretary-general’s personal envoy for Cyprus, María Ángela Holguín, Erhurman said the Turkish Cypriot side was not opposed in principle to a new 5+1 conference format involving Turkey, Greece, Britain, the two Cypriot sides and the United Nations.
He said, however, that meaningful negotiations would require adequate groundwork before any such meeting could take place.
“We do not have an approach that says there should be no 5+1 meeting if conditions have not fully matured,” he said. “But for such a meeting to take place, we need to know that the necessary preliminary preparations have been made.”
Conditions for a new process
Erhurman reiterated four conditions he said should underpin any new negotiation process: political equality should not be subject to negotiation, talks should operate within a clear timetable, previous convergences should be reaffirmed, and there should be no return to the current status quo if the Greek Cypriot side withdraws from the process.
“We will not participate in a framework without a timetable and without a deadline. The United Nations is well aware of this,” he said.
Coordination with Ankara
Addressing his relationship with Ankara, Erhurman rejected suggestions that tensions could emerge with the Turkish government and said developments on the Cyprus issue are always conducted in consultation with Turkey.
“At the moment we are in full consultation and coordination, and this continues on a daily basis,” he said. “At every stage we are in direct contact. We are continuing the process in complete coordination and consultation without encountering any problems whatsoever.”
View on the European Union
On the role of the European Union, Erhurman said the bloc could not be a participant in negotiations because the Republic of Cyprus is already an EU member state, which he said would undermine the neutrality of the process.