Turkey, Turkish Cyprus to discuss upcoming 5+1 format talks

ANKARA

Turkey and Turkish Cyprus will seek to coordinate their positions concerning the future steps to be taken for resolving the Cyprus problem before 5+1 format talks as Ankara urged the United Nations to stop relying on “a tested and exhausted process” that has failed to resolve the Cyprus dispute for “more than 50 years.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will travel to the island on Feb. 1 and 2, where he will hold talks with senior leaders, including Turkish Cyprus President Ersin Tatar and Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu.

“During his visit, Çavuşoğlu will meet with the Turkish Cypriot authorities to discuss the issues on our common agenda, particularly the Cyprus issue,” the Foreign Ministry said in a written statement over the weekend.

Çavuşoğlu’s visit comes after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced his intention to invite the Turkish and Greek Cypriots as well as three guarantor countries Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom to New York for 5+1 format talks. The forum will provide an opportunity for the parties to express their respective views and to see whether there is a ground to launch a new U.N. effort for the resolution of the decades-old problem.

The Turkish Cypriots underline that they will not discuss the federation with Greek Cyprus and that the only viable solution is to endorse a two-state solution. Turkey is supporting the Turkish Cypriots and urging the U.N. to adopt a new language.

Turkey reiterated this in a written statement over the weekend about the U.N. Security Council’s resolution on the extension of the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).

Turkey slams UN Security Council

The statement recalled that Guterres, in his report on Good Offices Mission dated Jan. 8, 2021, did not refer to any settlement model and rather pointed to a mutually acceptable settlement.

The informal 5+1 U.N. meeting, which is expected to be held in the near future, aims to determine whether there is a common ground towards the settlement, the statement said.

“In this meeting, it is expected that the parties would sincerely reveal their visions for the future. It would be useful for the U.N. Security Council to lay the ground that would allow the addressing of new ideas to enable settlement, instead of imposing on the sides a tested and exhausting process that did not produce a settlement,” it added.