The presidential statement said it was clear that a person directly responsible for the UN Secretary-General was needed, with the same flexibility, authority and mandate as Jane Holl Lute, who left her post, to ensure that efforts to determine whether there was common ground in Cyprus were maintained.
The statement stressed that the Turkish Cypriot side will continue its efforts to enhance bottom-up cooperation in Cyprus, which will facilitate daily life on the island and contribute to the creation of trust between the two peoples, in addition to the efforts to advance the two sides’ vision for institutional cooperation on the basis of their sovereign equality and equal international status.
The presidential statement reads:
“The Turkish Cypriot side supported the efforts of UN Senior Officer Jane Holl Lute, appointed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, to determine whether there was common ground for the start of formal negotiations, and attended the 5+UN meeting in Geneva at the end of April in a constructive spirit. At the meetings in Geneva, the Turkish Cypriot side and Turkey did not approve the appointment of the Secretary-General as a Special Representative for Cyprus without common ground.
Upon the appointment of Jane Holl Lute to the Directors’ Board of shell oil company, Mr. Lute stepped down in light of the UN Ethics Committee’s decision that there may be a conflict of interest between his duties in cyprus as a result of this appointment.
Upon this development, the Turkish Cypriot side supported the appointment of a personal envoy to replace Jane Holl Lute in accordance with secretary-general Guterres’ proposal, arguing that the appointee’s task should be defined as determining within a time frame whether there is common ground to initiate formal negotiations in Cyprus, and in any case this authority should not exceed the authority granted to Jane Holl Lute.
This approach is supported by The Guarantor country Turkey, one of the parties participating in the 5+UN meetings.
This position we are advocating has been effectively transferred to the relevant parties, including the bilateral meeting with the UN Secretary General, as follows the informal trilateral meeting with the participation of our President Ersin Tatar and Greek leader Nikos Anastasiadis, and the draft statement submitted by the UN for evaluation to the two sides made it clear that the parties have agreed to the appointment of a Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General.
Unfortunately, the Greek side distorted what happened after this meeting and backed away from the agreement. As is known, at the end of the 5+UN meeting in Geneva, the Secretary-General’s statement stated that there was no common ground and emphasized the UN’s determination to continue its work.
At this point, it is clear that a person with the same flexibility, authority and mandate as Mr. Lute, and directly responsible to the UN Secretary-General is needed to determine whether there is common ground. In addition to the efforts of the Turkish Cypriot side to advance its vision for institutional cooperation on the basis of the sovereign equalities and equal international status of the two sides in Cyprus, it will continue its efforts to improve bottom-up cooperation, which will facilitate daily life on the island and contribute to the creation of trust between the two peoples.”
Kıbrıs Gazetesi
