Europe minister David Lidington met the new Turkish Cypriot negotiatior Ergün Olgun in London
The new Turkish Cypriot chief negotiator Ergün Olgun was in London this week ahead of a British ministerial visit to Cyprus.
Europe minister David Lidington held a meeting with Mr Olgun, who replaced Kudret Özersay in October, on Monday
Mr Olgun said: “We told Lidington how we, as the Turkish Cypriot side, had made suggestions on 11 February for a full resolution based on a federation. We said single-sided behaviour did not serve a federation. We emphasised the importance of sharing responsibilities.”
He continued: “The two sides in Cyprus succeed in cooperating on matters such as cultural legacy and missing persons. This cooperation could be extended to hydrocarbons. We discussed all these things [with Mr Lidington.”
Mr Lidington has since travelled to Cyprus on an official visit.
Mr Olgun will remain in London until Friday and has also held meetings with Labour’s shadow Europe minister Pat McFadden. He is being accompanied by the Turkish Cypriot president’s consultancy and political affairs chief Güneş Onar on the trip, which will also involve meetings with members of the House of Lords.
Kudret Özersay was sacked in October by the Turkish Cypriot leadership shortly after the Greek Cypriot side decided to withdraw from peace talks in response to Turkish offshore drilling.
A statement from Turkish Cypriot president Derviş Eroğlu’s office said he thought it would be “more appropriate” for Mr Özersay to return to his academic role at Eastern Mediterranean University.
The decision had been widely anticipated after Mr Özersay announced he would be challenging Mr Eroğlu for the North Cypriot presidency in next year’s elections.
