NICOSIA, TRNC/ISTANBUL

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus will attend the informal expanded 5+1 talks on Cyprus, scheduled for July 16-17 in New York, President Ersin Tatar said Tuesday.

“We confirmed that we will be ready for the expanded 5+1 meeting in New York on July 16-17. Of course, we consulted with Türkiye on these processes,” Tatar said at a news conference following his meeting with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, and the head of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus mission, Colin Stewart.

The TRNC has never abandoned its stance of dialogue, contact, and a constructive approach, he added.

Tatar recalled having some disagreements with Greek Cypriot Administration Leader Nikos Hristodulidis during the 5+1 meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, from March 6 to 17, and emphasized that the Greek Cypriot Administration must end the unjust detention of TRNC property owners.

Noting that Cuellar had been reappointed to make progress on six issues in the Geneva talks, he added that the desired progress has not been achieved to date.

He pointed out that dialogue and work with the Greek Cypriot side are continuing through various committees, adding: “Our conditions for moving on to official negotiations between the parties are clear.”

“The policy of ‘sovereign equality and equal international status’ that we have envisioned is important. If progress is made within the framework of direct flights, direct trade, and direct contact, which we have formulated as 3D, then official negotiations can also begin,” he said.

Tatar, on the other hand, mentioned that he will travel to Azerbaijan this evening to attend an Economic Cooperation Organization meeting in Khankendi, indicating that he intends to strengthen relations with ECO member states in order to maintain the TRNC's presence and economic potential in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Decades-long Cyprus problem

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.