Tatar to meet UN chief on Friday

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar will travel to Brussels for a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday, it was announced on Wednesday.

According to a written statement issued by Tatar’s office, the Turkish Cypriot leader is traveling to Brussels on Thursday ahead of Friday’s meeting.

It seems the meeting was arranged after Tatar asked for one through Guterres’ special envoy on Cyprus, Jane Holl Lute on Tuesday, after it was announced that President Nicos Anastasiades would talk with the UN chief in Brussels on Friday on the margins of the European Council (EUCO).

Nicosia said Anastasiades will discuss with Guterres the whole spectrum of the Cyprus issue and will put forth again the positions of the Greek Cypriot side.

Tatar said on Tuesday after speaking with Lute that if Guterres was meeting Anastasiades, he should also, arguing that the UN should observe the principle of equality. He said he had submitted the request through Lute.

The Turkish Cypriot leader will be escorted to Brussels by his special representative Ergun Olgun and other officials.

Both leaders had separate meetings on Tuesday with Lute, who was on the island as part of efforts to find common ground for the continuation of the Cyprus problem procedure after an informal summit held in Geneva last April yielded no results.

Anastasiades told Lute his aim is a just, functional, and viable solution of the problem, based on the UN Security Council resolutions and the UNSG’s relevant mandate and reiterated his proposals for substantive confidence-building measures. Tatar reiterated his position that the north ought to be recognised as a sovereign state.