According to illegal BRT television (online, 30.07.15), the leader of the National Unity Party Huseyin Ozgurgun has said that they want to be informed about developments in the Cyprus negotiations process on a daily basis.
Speaking on “BRT’s morning show”, the UBP leader said that they want to be informed first hand on the current developments because failure to do so results in the emergence of speculative reports on both sides.
Touching upon the issue of property which has been at the centre of debate over the past few days, Ozgurgun said that in principle they are against the watering down of the property criteria. He noted that reinstating too much property to former owners will remove the bi-zonal structure of a settlement which in return will be against the spirit of the agreement to be reached. “It would be best to settle most cases through compensation and exchange and to limit the choice of reinstatement or restitution”, Ozgurgun claimed.
He also stressed that the issue of property cannot be discussed independently of Governance and Power Sharing or the issue of territory.
On the issue of guarantees, Ozgurgun said that it is the Turkish Cypriot “people” that need Turkey’s security guarantees. “I’m not saying that the issue cannot be opened to debate but removing the guarantees altogether is out of the question”, he said.
The UBP leader, however, pointed out that the guarantees system can be scrapped one day once a settlement is reached if the new partnership state matures and the new conditions allow it.
“It is out of the question for the UBP to accept an agreement that waters down the bi-zonal structure of the new state and which does not recognize the political equality of the two people and Turkey’s effective guarantee” Ozgurgun concluded.
On the issue of the new coalition government, the UBP leader said that the first principle in the coalition government protocol is that both parties will have an equal say and responsibility in the administration of the “country”. He said that both parties needed to agree, support and implement the decisions taken by the “cabinet”.