Ertugruloglu: It is good that Starmer did not visit north
The fact that British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer did not visit the north during his trip to Cyprus last week is a good thing, the north’s ‘foreign minister’ Tahsin Ertugruloglu said. Speaking to Turkish television channel NTV, he said Sta
The fact that British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer did not visit the north during his trip to Cyprus last week is a good thing, the north’s ‘foreign minister’ Tahsin Ertugruloglu said.
Speaking to Turkish television channel NTV, he said Starmer’s non-visit is “not a subject of complaint for me”.
“I am saying it is a good thing that it did not happen,” he added.
To this end, he said the fact that Starmer only visited the Republic “cast a shadow over the position of the United Kingdom, a guarantor power” of Cyprus.
“The UK never fulfilled its duty as a guarantor, and it was the UK which opened the door to the Greek Cypriots under the name of the Republic of Cyprus. The UK has an obligation to treat both sides in Cyprus equally, and Starmer should also listen to the Turkish Cypriot side’s perspective,” he said.
Starmer visited Cyprus last week, becoming the first British prime minister since Ted Heath in 1971 to visit the Republic while in office to meet the president, with most British prime ministers in the intervening period having at some point visited the country’s bases on the island.
President Nikos Christodoulides described the visit as “historic”, and said it was “clear proof of our strong will to work together, to enhance our bilateral relationship in defence, security, investments, trade, education, technology and on all levels”.
Ertugruloglu’s comments about Starmer’s visit to the island come as Cyprus’ two major communities’ leaderships seem to find themselves in disagreement over whether a delegation from the UK will attend a planned “enlarged meeting” over the Cyprus problem in the early part of next year.
New British high commissioner in Nicosia Michael Tatham had on Sunday suggested that the country would be present at such a meeting, saying the UK “takes its role as a guarantor power very seriously” and “wants to contribute as constructively as possible to the process”.
He added that his country “fully supports the agreed proposal for a solution within the framework of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality”.
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, however, has come out against the idea of British involvement in such a meeting.
He had gone on the record before the informal dinner in October as having said that based on the lack of common ground found between Cyprus’ two sides, “an environment could be created for a 4+1 informal consultation.”
It was reported a month ago that “all parties” had given their consent for such a meeting to be held, with a “brief discussion” having reportedly been held between United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Christodoulides on the sidelines of the Cop29 climate meeting in the Azeri capital Baku, in which Guterres informed Christodoulides of progress.
Plans for such a meeting had been afoot since Christodoulides met Tatar at an informal dinner in New York in October, with reports suggesting that UN under-secretary-general for peacebuilding Rosemary DiCarlo will visit the island soon.
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