Turkish Cypriot President Tufan Erhürman has rejected a Greek Cypriot proposal linking U.N. administration of Maraş to direct EU trade through Mağusa port under the bloc’s control, saying the arrangement offers no balanced exchange.
Maraş, known internationally as Varosha, was closed off in 1974. Parts of the area reopened to visitors in 2020.
“This is not something I can accept,” Erhürman said during an Oct. 20 interview on Genç TV, outlining the proposal put forward by Greek Cypriot administration leader Nikos Christodoulides.
Erhürman stressed that Mağusa port, also known as Famagusta, was already operating.
The issue facing Turkish Cypriots was access to direct trade with the EU, rather than whether the port was open.
He said he had asked Christodoulides whether the proposal would bring the EU’s direct trade regulation into force and received a negative response.
Instead, trade would be permitted through the port because it would operate under EU control.
Erhürman questioned why direct trade should be tied to placing Maraş under U.N. administration, arguing that the terms were not balanced.
He also said the proposal repeated a formula presented to then-Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat in 2006 and rejected at the time.
“Twenty years have passed. It has been brought back as a new formula after 20 years,” he said.
Erhürman reiterated that Christodoulides had not provided him with a written 19-point proposal.
On broader Cyprus talks, Erhürman said negotiations must be aimed at reaching a settlement, explaining his decision not to attend a proposed three-way meeting in New York.
“I will not negotiate for the sake of negotiating,” he said.
