Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan promised “empathy for the other side” ahead of the enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem, which got underway in New York in the early hours of Thursday morning.
He said the meeting’s “purpose” is to “discuss how a way forward can be found to benefit both communities” and to “create greater stability for the international community and the region, based on a vision which is based on the realities of the island”.
“We are quite constructive on this issue. Our president [Recep Tayyip Erdogan]’s vision on this matter is very clear. We always act with a win-win formula in mind. We never lose our empathy for the other side, but we cannot accept an equation which disregards Turks and their rights,” he said.
He added that the current status quo on the island has “created an environment where Turks’ rights are disregarded”.
Of the forthcoming talks, he said Turkey “has never been a country which shies away from negotiations or avoids discussing issues in a civil, rational, and mature manner”.
“We will continue this discussion, these negotiations, and this dialogue. I hope the two sides reach solutions which will benefit both sides today,” he said.
He added that the Turkish delegation has “some scenarios and ideas in mind”, and that “we will discuss what other new decisions can be made and what agreements can be reached”.
He was speaking after meeting Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar ahead of the talks, which were set to begin at 2am Cyprus time on Thursday with an informal meal.
The enlarged meeting is the second of its kind this year, and is being attended by both Fidan and Tatar, as well as President Nikos Christodoulides, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis, and the United Kingdom’s minister of state for Europe Stephen Doughty.
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