January will be a “very busy period” with regard to the Cyprus problem, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said on Wednesday.

Making his first statements of the year, he said that “thanks to our approach, which always prioritises dialogue and diplomacy, this time, we will continue to work towards a consensus based on reality rather than maintaining the status quo”.

He also criticised the Greek Cypriot side’s “cruel policy of isolation” towards Turkish Cypriots, and added that “until now, negotiations have been going on without any results”.

“Despite the continuous failures seen in negotiations on the basis of a federal solution, the only thing those negotiations produced was a normalisation of the Greek Cypriot side’s policy of isolation,” he said.

He added, “we left our access to our inherent rights, namely our basic human rights, to the mercy of the Greek Cypriot leadership.”

He then criticised the north’s opposition political parties, which have continued to support the idea of a federal solution to the Cyprus problem.

The opposition’s insistence on exhausted ground does not affect us at all. While the international community has quickly begun to see the truth, our opposition’s reaction to even this and its attempt to present advisory decisions as binding is an effort to deceive our people,” he said.

He then made reference to the Annan Plan referendum of 2004, saying, “the Turkish Cypriot people have demonstrated their positive attitude towards a compromise many times, and even said ‘yes’ in the first and only referendum held on the Cyprus problem”.

However, he said, “their fundamental human rights continue to be violated due to oppressive policies pursued by the side which said ‘no’ to a solution”.

Looking ahead, he said, “while we talk about dialogue and cooperation and constantly develop and present proposals to the other side, the Greek Cypriot leadership unfortunately directly targets our economy”, while also saying the arrests of people accused of selling Greek Cypriot property in the north are “contrary to international law”.

“We are in favour of compromise, not conflict. We will continue to call for cooperation, but we will not back down from protecting our people’s rights until the very end,” he said.

The “very busy” January foreseen by Tatar may include a meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides over the matter of opening new crossing points to connect the island’s two sides.

Tatar had announced on Friday that he would meet Christodoulides on either January 20 or January 21, though government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou swiftly denied that such a date had been set, telling the Cyprus Mail, “we do not have anything yet, we have not been informed of such a date”.

Tatar and Christodoulides are yet to see eye to eye on the matter of crossing points and where they should be opened, with Tatar having criticised the Greek Cypriot side’s approach on the matter in recent weeks.

He said that while his aim is to open new crossing points linking the Republic and the north, he believes it is the Greek Cypriot side’s aim to open what would effectively be transit roads connecting the Republic with other parts of the Republic.

“We wanted a crossing point at Mia Milia, while the Greek Cypriot side wanted to transit through the Turkish military areas near Athienou and Kokkina. This is unacceptable,” he said.

A crossing point near Athienou, for example, would cut journey times for people from Cyprus’ southeast to Nicosia if connected to another crossing point on the western side of the part of territory held by the north which juts southwards to encompass the village of Louroujina.

Meanwhile, while a crossing point near the Kokkina exclave would make life easier for the residents of the surrounding Greek Cypriot villages, the exclave itself has a civilian population of zero, thus raising questions of whether such a crossing point would be beneficial for Turkish Cypriots.

Tatar, however, has favoured the idea of a crossing point in Mia Milia, on the eastern edge of Nicosia.

Local politicians on both sides of the island, including Turkish Cypriot Nicosia mayor Mehmet Harmanci, the Greek Cypriot Athienou municipality, Greek Cypriot Kato Pyrgos mukhtar Nikos Kleanthous, and Turkish Cypriot Kythrea mayor Ali Karavezierler all, unsurprisingly, have come out in favour of crossing points in their own local areas.

The year 2025 will be key for Tatar personally, too, as Turkish Cypriot leadership elections are scheduled for October. He currently trails pro-federal solution former ‘prime minister’ Tufan Erhurman in the polls ahead of what is expected to be a close-run affair.

No incumbent Turkish Cypriot leader has won re-election to the office since Rauf Denktash won by default in 2000 after his second round opponent Dervish Eroglu withdrew his candidacy.