Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman said on Wednesday that no Cyprus settlement could take effect without Turkey’s approval, whilst acknowledging that conditions were emerging for a renewed round of negotiations.

“A 5+1 meeting is not possible without Turkey,” Erhurman said in an interview in the north.

“No solution agreement to which Turkey does not say yes can come into force,” he insisted, saying the same principle applied to the other guarantor powers.

Erhurman said recent international developments were creating a perception “for the first time” that a settlement of the Cyprus problem was necessary and argued that “ground is beginning to form for renegotiation”.

He commended UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ recent visit to Cyprus as successful, rejecting claims that it was merely a farewell visit.

“Saying that he came for a vacation and farewell is as wrong as saying that he came for a solution,” he remarked.

Erhurman stressed he wanted “result-oriented negotiation” rather than talks for their own sake and conveyed that Guterres had asked him and President Nikos Christodoulides to meet at least once a week after assigning tasks to the two sides.

He said discussions on confidence building measures had focused on crossing points and demining, accusing Christodoulides of changing proposals on crossing points agreed in New York.

On the form of a settlement, he said the sides should focus on “the content, the transitional period and the steps that will facilitate the life of the communities”, rather than debating formalities such as its name.