Developments in the eastern Mediterranean and the wider region have “proven how correct” the idea of a two-state solution to the Cyprus problem is, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said on Monday.

“It is absolutely impossible to return to the search for a federal solution. Giving new opportunities to an exhausted process is out of the question. Our stance and Ankara’s stance on this issue is very clear,” he told newspaper Kibris.

“In an environment where balances are being reshaped in the world and the structure of the United Nations is being discussed, Cyprus is not the old Cyprus, and the eastern Mediterranean is not the old eastern Mediterranean. Developments around the world and geostrategic developments in our region have proven how correct our policy is.”

He then added that the UN security council resolutions which call for a bizonal, bicommunal federal solution with political equality are “not binding but advisory”, and said that he along with the Turkish government is “determined to further advance our new policy based on sovereign equality and equal international status”.

“There will be absolutely no stepping back from this policy. Its correctness is proven with each passing day,” he said.

Looking ahead to the planned enlarged Cyprus problem meeting in Geneva next month, he said he will arrive at the meeting with a “comprehensive work” outlining his demands.

“What the Turkish Cypriot side wants is quite clear. A new and official negotiation process cannot start without our sovereign equality and equal international status being accepted. The future of the island of Cyprus cannot be shaped independently of the will of the Turkish Cypriot people.

He then added that his position is “being understood and accepted more with each passing day”, making reference to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s comments last week that he “fully supports the cause of northern Cyprus”.

However, optimism regarding the future of work towards a two-state solution is not shared across the north, with opposition party CTP secretary-general Asim Akansoy saying on Monday that next month’s meeting in Geneva may not even go ahead as planned.

“At the end of the day, I think that meeting will be postponed because there is no common ground,” he told television channel Kanal Sim.

He added that Guterres has “not held any official meetings” on the Cyprus problem for four years “because arguments put forward by Tatar disrupted the common order”.

“Tatar left the field, and every meeting since then has been unofficial because of this. The meeting in Geneva will be unofficial,” he said.

Despite this, he said he is “cautiously optimistic” regarding the future peace process of the Cyprus problem.

“All segments of society want a solution, and the person who can carry out this process responsibly and seriously is Tufan Erhurman,” he said, naming his party’s likely candidate in this October’s Turkish Cypriot leadership election.

Tatar had initially said the Geneva meeting would take place on March 17 or March 18, but President Nikos Christodoulides said on Saturday some “minor changes” have since been made to the expected date.

The meeting will see representatives of both of Cyprus’ communities as well as its three guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, convene to discuss the Cyprus problem.