Erhürman denied rejecting tripartite meeting — Cyprus Mail
Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman met with UN Secretary-General António Guterres in New York, United States, and denied claims by the Greek Cypriot side that he had rejected a tripartite meeting involving Guterres and President Nikos Christodoulides. Cyprus Mail reports.
After the talks, Erhürman said that the Greek Cypriot side had allegedly attempted to hinder meetings between Turkish Cypriot representatives and representatives of other states by sending letters to their interlocutors. He described such actions as undermining trust and said he had the opportunity to present his side's position to the UN secretary-general.
Dispute over the meeting
According to Erhürman, if Guterres had insisted on holding a tripartite meeting and he had refused, a separate meeting with the UN secretary-general would not have taken place. He also stated that the Turkish Cypriot side would continue working within the framework defined by Guterres.
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On Friday evening, diplomatic sources from the Greek Cypriot side told the publication that Erhürman had not agreed to a tripartite meeting. It also became known that the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cyprus to the UN had sent a letter to representatives of all member states of the organization calling on them to refrain from contacts with representatives of an entity described in the document as separatist.
Issues for further contacts
Erhürman said that Guterres had demanded progress on crossing points, demining, citizenship for children from mixed marriages, sports, joint emergency response and a mechanism to counter irregular migration. He claims that the Turkish Cypriot side agreed to proposals on six issues, while accusing the Greek Cypriot side of initiatives that, in his view, weaken trust.
During the week in New York, Guterres also met with Christodoulides, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Christodoulides, Erhürman and Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis separately met with UN envoy for Cyprus Maria Angela Holguín.
