Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said on Wednesday that he would be meeting with the newly elected Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar next week, adding that he expected the politician's position on the Cyprus issue to be negotiable.
On Sunday, the self
ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2020) Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said on Wednesday that he would be meeting with the newly elected Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar next week, adding that he expected the politician's position on the Cyprus issue to be negotiable.
On Sunday, the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) held its second round of the presidential election. According to the results, nationalist candidate Tatar, who is backed by Turkey, secured 51.7 percent of the vote and became the president of the TRNC. Tatar is a hardline proponent of a two-state solution in Cyprus and he denies the possibility of the reunification of the Greek and Turkish communities. Tatar has expressed support for Turkey's foreign policy and endorsed the country's military offensive in north-eastern Syria.
"Recently, our Turkish Cypriot community held the election of a new Turkish Cypriot leader, I contacted him, expressed my readiness and determination to participate in any new initiative that the UN Secretary General [Antonio Guterres] proposes in order to resume a constructive dialogue to bring actual peace both to Cyprus and to the region," Anastasiades said during the ongoing Cyprus-Greece-Egypt Trilateral Summit in Nicosia.
The president added that he did not want to make statements that could aggravate the situation in the country ahead of his meeting with Tatar next week.
"We remain firm in the search for an effective and sustainable solution based on the United Nations' and Security Council resolutions and, of course, on the principles and values of the European Union, of which we are a member and will remain so after the crisis," Anastasiades noted.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in turn, welcomed Nicosia's willingness to sit down at the negotiating table for a just solution to the Cyprus issue.
During the meeting, the leaders of the two countries also assessed the latest developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and regional challenges posed by Turkey.
Cyprus was split between Greek and Turkish communities in 1974, after Turkey invaded the island in response to an uprising of Greek Cypriots that resulted in a change of government. In 1983, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus declared its independence but was not recognized by any other country except for Turkey.
The United Nations has attempted to broker a reunification dialogue, but the effort failed and the talks have been completely stalled since 2017.
