President Erhürman: ‘I desire a answer, not a gathering for the sake of it’
Sep 28, 2026 12:58 pm
Ibrar Younas
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President Tufan Erhürman says he was prepared to attend a New York assembly with the UN Secretary-Basic and Nikos Christodoulides if there was a practical prospect of progress on confidence-building measures.
President Tufan Erhürman has defended his determination to not attend a proposed three-way assembly in New York, saying talks with Greek Cypriot chief Nikos Christodoulides and UN Secretary-Basic António Guterres would have served little function with no sensible prospect of progress.
Talking at a press convention after coming back from New York, Erhürman mentioned he remained prepared to fulfill Christodoulides commonly in Nicosia and to participate in a broader assembly if it may assist transfer the Cyprus challenge in direction of a settlement.
“I can’t maintain a three-way assembly only for the sake of it. I can’t maintain a 5+1 assembly only for the sake of it, and I can’t begin negotiations only for the sake of it. I desire a answer,” he mentioned.
Erhürman rejected solutions {that a} three-way assembly had been deliberate earlier than the leaders travelled to New York. He mentioned the proposal got here from Christodoulides on 24 September and was conveyed to him by means of the UN Secretary-Basic’s Private Envoy for Cyprus, María Ángela Holguín.
In line with Erhürman, he advised Holguín he would attend if there was a prospect of settlement on no less than a number of the seven confidence-building measures put ahead by Guterres, and if the Secretary-Basic was accessible. He mentioned he obtained no additional response on that proposal.
The measures embrace crossing factors, mine clearance, joint responses to pure disasters and irregular migration, a civil society session mechanism, sport, and citizenship rights for youngsters born to blended marriages.
Erhürman mentioned there had been no significant progress on these measures, on the tactic for conducting future negotiations, or on substantive points. He argued that the 19 new proposals subsequently introduced by Christodoulides would shift consideration away from the work already set out by Guterres.
He additionally described a later name from Holguín a few attainable opening on rotating presidency. Erhürman mentioned he would have been prepared to debate the difficulty as a matter of political equality, however noticed no prospect of a helpful assembly if it have been linked to safety and ensures.
His place, he insisted, was not a refusal to interact. “I don’t run away from the negotiating desk,” he mentioned, including that the 2 leaders may meet weekly or each 10 days in Nicosia if that may assist produce outcomes.
Erhürman mentioned Holguín was anticipated to return to Cyprus in October. With Guterres’s time period because of finish in December, he argued that the restricted time accessible needs to be spent advancing the present confidence-building measures moderately than repeatedly altering the main target of discussions.
“We will begin tomorrow and maintain marathon conferences,” he mentioned. “However the level is to attain a end result.”
