On Tuesday evening Ersin Tatar, the newly elected president of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC), met his South Cyprus counterpart Nicos Anastasiades for the first time. The meeting was arranged by Elizabeth Spehar, the United Nations Special Representative and Deputy Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Cyprus. Ms Spehar hosted the two political […]
António Guterres has announced he is ready to restart the Cyprus Talks. A statement released late on Monday evening by the United Nations said the Secretary General will “extend his efforts” to initiate “results-oriented negotiations” to resolve the long-standing Cyprus Problem. The news follows a day of informal talks at Hotel Adlon Kempiski in Berlin […]
The Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has accused its President, Mustafa Akıncı, of electioneering after his decision to agree to a meeting with Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Berlin in November. Ersin Tatar said that Mr Akıncı, whose current five-year term ends next […]
On 24 April, 2004, Turkish Cypriots voted in favour of uniting the island of Cyprus in historic referendums on what was dubbed the ‘Annan Plan’. But the United Nations blueprint for a federal solution remained just that after Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected it – and were rewarded with European Union membership days later. In the […]
The necessary conditions for the creation of a federal united Cyprus do not exist, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Foreign Affairs Minister Kudret Özersay said on Wednesday. Prof. Özersay made the comments at a major conference held at Near East University (NEU), on the outskirts of Lefkoşa, North Cyprus, organised to debate “alternative” solutions […]
As the British High Commission forecasts “tough choices and compromises ahead” if the UN Talks are to succeed, and Secretary General Guterres fails to mention Greek Cypriot obstruction in his latest report, former TRNC Chief Negotiator Ergün Olgun says more than compromise may be needed for success, and that the UN itself is part […]
For the best part of 60 years Greek Cypriot governments have, with ingenious guile and commendable tenacity, persuaded most of the world and international institutions to see Cyprus through their eyes, the widely held view being that Turkey is entirely responsible for the current situation, having taken the north of the island for itself and […]
Bids by Anastasiades to bin the 1960 Treaties of Guarantee and of Alliance in an effort to dictate the terms of the next round of UN Cyprus talks have been dismissed by a seasoned observer. Former TRNC Chief Negotiator Ergün Olgun says the Greek Cypriot President should actually give thanks for the 1960 Treaty of […]
Having been under attack from his own side for supposedly diluting the vital elements of the Turkish Cypriot negotiating position, particularly on the issue of security and Turkey’s guarantees, President Mustafa Akıncı has been at pains to stress nothing could be further from the truth. Speaking at the Akıncılar Festival on 6 May, the […]
The Greek Cypriot position on hydrocarbons exploitation is that as an independent and sovereign coastal state, member of both the UN and of the EU, the “Republic of Cyprus” has the right to exploit her natural resources, including offshore resources, and agree boundaries with other coastal states in accordance with internationally accepted procedures. Greece […]
