Republic of Cyprus, Ministry of Interior, Press and Information Office
Press Release

Cyprus replies to the positions expressed by the Turkish Prime
Minister at the U.N. General Assembly

26/09/2009

The Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations,
Ambassador Minas Hadjimichael, yesterday sent to the President of the
General Assembly a written reply to the positions on Cyprus expressed
by the Prime Minister of Turkey, Mr Erdogan during his speech last
Thursday at the UN General Assembly. The reply will be circulated as a
U.N. document. The text is as follows:

«The Government of the Republic of Cyprus regrets that the
positions taken by the Prime Minister of Turkey in his address to the
General Assembly on 24 September 2009, are clearly disconnected, both
in letter and spirit, with the ongoing efforts undertaken by the
leaders of the two communities in Cyprus, within the good offices
mission of the Secretary-General, to reach a political
settlement. What is even more disconcerting is the fact that the Prime
Minister of Turkey selectively recalls today his country’s role as
guarantor power, only in relation to a so called ‘new partnership’ in
Cyprus, a notion that falls outside the agreed basis upon which the
talks are being conducted.

The Prime Minister of Turkey attempts to introduce elements that are
not part of the agreed process, such as arbitration and time
tables. This is an attempt to alter the nature of the negotiations and
would also endanger the end result of that process, which is to find a
solution by the Cypriots and for the Cypriots.

At the same time, the Prime Minister of Turkey has suggested that
unless the solution to be found falls within specific conditions laid
down by Turkey, then the UN and the international community should
seek to ‘normalize’ the status of the so called ‘TRNC’. Turkey, which
is currently serving on the Security Council, should be reminded that
its role is to uphold international law and legality and not to call
upon the international community to upgrade ntity that has been
universally condemned by the UN Security Council itself.

Finally, instead of speaking of the so called ‘isolation’ of the
Turkish-Cypriot community, the Turkish Prime Minister should help the
Turkish-Cypriots by allowing the leader of that community to arrive at
a solution that would guarantee the legitimate rights of the people of
Cyprus, Greek-Cypriots, Turkish-Cypriots, Maronites, Armenians and
Latins. The ‘isolation’ that Mr. ErdoÄ?an refers to, is the
direct consequence of the ongoing occupation of a substantial part of
the Republic of Cyprus by Turkish troops».