President Ersin Tatar departs for Economic Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan
President Ersin Tatar has departed for the 16th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) that is being held between November 8-9 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
President Tatar held a press conference at Ercan Airport prior to his departure for the meeting that is also being attended by other heads of state and governments. The Turkish Cypriot State is an observer member of ECO.
President Tatar was bid farewell by Speaker of the Parliamentary Assembly Zorlu Töre, Minister of Finance Özdemir Berova and other officials.
President Tatar stated that ECO was first founded by Iran, Pakistan and Türkiye in 1985, which he said has increased the number of member states to 10, following the participation of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
Stating that the TRNC is an observer member at ECO, President Tatar stated that the “Turkish Cypriot People are continuing their struggle for justice, and striving to participate in every platform to make their voices heard and to develop relations with other countries”.
“The ECO represents a population of more than 500 million people,” President Tatar said. “We place importance on continuing our participation at different levels in international summits and meetings despite attempts by the Greek Cypriot Side to further our isolation and restrictions.”
President Tatar stated: “It is our obligation to explain the just cause of the Turkish Cypriot People and to communicate our new vision and policy for a settlement that is based on our inherent rights, namely our sovereign equality and equal international status. There are new opportunities that have come about particularly following the pandemic and the calls by the Republic of Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the international community to formally recognise the TRNC and to form diplomatic, economic and political relations with our country.”
Stressing that “federal based negotiations have been tried, failed and exhausted,” President Tatar added: “We have turned a new page for the Island of Cyprus, which is for a settlement to be reached on the realities and facts on the ground in Cyprus that is based on peaceful co-existence, where the two States exist as good neighbours in a cooperative relationship. This is a realistic and sustainable basis. We are putting forward a new vision and policy that is fully supported by Türkiye, which is for a two State settlement in Cyprus.”
“These are the messages that we will be conveying in our meetings at the ECO,” President Tatar said.
Stating that the Cyprus issue can be solved permanently with an agreement based on the cooperative relationship of two States, President Tatar said: “The two sovereign States can cooperate across different fields, from sharing the natural wealth around the Island of Cyprus, to demining, curbing irregular migration, cooperating on an electricity interconnectivity system through the Republic of Türkiye to the EU, and sharing of fresh water.” The President remarked that he had also conveyed this message to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during their telephone conversation that was held yesterday.