Talat: Turkey’s Cyprus stance ‘a complete fiasco’

Former Turkish Cypriot Leader Mehmet Ali Talat said on Wednesday that Turkey’s current stance on the Cyprus problem is “a complete fiasco”.

Speaking to Kibris Postasi, he said Turkey “does not want a solution to the Cyprus problem and is pursuing a policy which is in defiance of the world through Cyprus.”

“This may change in the future, but at the moment, they are following [current Turkish Cypriot Leader Ersin] Tatar. Either that, or Tatar is following them,” he said.

With this in mind, he said there is “currently no will on the Turkish side, including in Turkey, to reach a solution,” and added that the Greek Cypriot side’s sincerity on the matter must also be called into question.

“We do not believe that the Greek Cypriot side is sincere in its pursuit of a solution. We know Nikos Christodoulides opposed many proposals for a solution when he was foreign minister,” he said.

He said that if the Turkish Cypriot side offers to recommence talks regarding a federal solution “or a solution close to that”, the Greek Cypriot side “must also show sincerity”.

“There is a need for planned-out, results-orientated negotiations, with pre-determined targets and a defined timeline. In this context, we need to wait and see if [UN Envoy Maria Angela] Holguin’s contacts will bring results,” he said.

He said he believes Holguin’s contacts to be the “first stage” of reconciliation, and added, “I think our side during its meetings with Holguin talked about an expectation of recognition of our equal sovereignty, not recognition of the TRNC.”

Looking into the matter of potential solutions, he described the Annan plan as “a reference for subsequent processes.”

“Even though the Greek Cypriot side rejects it, this plan is permanent. For example, the foundations of the Annan plan were evaluated during a European Court of Human Rights decision regarding property,” he said.

He added that the Annan plan had been “worked on for a very long time” and had been put together with contributions of both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

“At the end of these efforts, an integrated and good plan emerged,” he said.

He said that the Greek Cypriot side “accepted the federal model in principle during the Annan plan period” but noted that “they showed with the referendum that they were not in favour of it.”

“After my term [which ended in 2010], Dervish Eroglu and Mustafa Akinci both also discussed a federal solution. However, when no results were achieved in Crans Montana in 2017, negotiations ended,” he said.

Even taking into account the lack of success in talks for a federal solution, he expressed doubts over the feasibility of a two-state solution.

“It is not possible for the Greek Cypriot side, which does not even accept a federation, to accept a separate state. Since a two-state solution is not possible, the only alternative seems to be a federation” he said.

In this regard, he poured scorn on the calls for countries to recognise the ‘TRNC’, saying “what will happen when two our three countries recognise the TRNC? Our goal should not be for three states to recognise us. It means nothing for states to recognise the TRNC if it does not bring us advantages.”

He went on to say the pursuit of a two-state solution will not lead to embargoes on the north being lifted, saying “if you pursue a separate state in Cyprus while the world vehemently rejects it, the embargoes will not be weakened. It is simply not possible under these conditions.”

He said that embargoes may even become harsher if the Turkish Cypriot side continues to pursue a two-state solution, saying Tatar’s current policy “poses great risks” to the Turkish Cypriot people.