Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman has responded to President Nikos Christodoulides’ comments that the two leaders could “write history together”, saying such an effort is far from easy under the current circumstances.
The comments came just hours before the two leaders are due to meet at 10:00 am today as part of ongoing Cyprus talks.
In an interview with Yeni Düzen on Tuesday, President Christodoulides expressed his belief that the two leaders could “write history”, adding that if a solution to the Cyprus problem depended solely on them, an agreement could potentially be reached as early as next week.
Erhürman raises concerns
In a post on Tuesday evening, Erhürman offered a different assessment, arguing that achieving such progress would be difficult under the current conditions.
He said that, on the one hand, initiatives are being promoted through agreements with various countries, particularly Israel and Greece, which, in his view, ignore Turkish Cypriots and put permanent peace and stability in Cyprus and the wider region at risk.
On the domestic front, Erhürman argued that instead of promoting new confidence-building measures, trust built so far continues to be undermined by issues including Barcelona, festivals and property matters.
He also criticised what he described as unilateral and biased decisions by the European Parliament, which he attributed to initiatives by Greek Cypriot MEPs.
‘Far from easy’
Erhürman said that under these circumstances, not only Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, but also the international community, now know that “writing history together is far from easy”.
Concluding his post, he referred to what he described as the “good news of the day”: decisions taken by a total of 12 countries regarding Israel, including the United Kingdom, France and Canada.
The latest meeting between Christodoulides and Erhürman is scheduled for 10:00 am today.
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