President Ersin Tatar holds a meeting with the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the TRNC
President Ersin Tatar has met with Parliamentarians in a meeting hosted by the All-Party-Parliamentary Group for the TRNC.
The meeting was attended by the APPG TRNC Chair Imran Hussain, Yasmin Qureshi MP, Nesil Çalışkan MP, Lord Rogan, Baroness Mobarik CBE, Lord Qurban Hussain and Elliott of Ballinamallard.
President Tatar expressed his gratitude to APPG TRNC for hosting the meeting that was held in Portcullis House in Westminster, saying: “The APPG TRNC has always been proactively working to communicate to ministers and parliamentarians the great injustice faced by the Turkish Cypriot People. I wish to thank you all for your sensitivity and support to our plight.”
President Tatar stated: “I have met with Stephen Doughty, the Minister of Europe, where I had an opportunity to share my views with regards to the latest developments on the Cyprus issue. Contrary to the claims of the Greek Cypriot Side, the Turkish Cypriot People have equal inherent rights with rights to self-determination, which they exercised as co-founders and partners in the 1960 Republic of Cyprus. It was due to the signature of the Turkish Cypriot leader, that the treaties that had established the republic, which also allowed for two Sovereign Base Areas, came into being. The Turkish Cypriots were just three years later in December 1963, expelled by force of arms from the state apparatus of the republic, and endured 11 years of atrocities as part of the Greek-Greek Cypriot aspiration to unite Cyprus with Greece.”
Stating that on July 15, 1974, the Greek Junta had staged a coup d’etat and declared the ‘Hellenic Republic of Cyprus’, President Tatar said: “Türkiye, our Motherland and one of the Guarantor powers, was obliged to undertake the Cyprus Peace operation in order to stop the atrocities. This was followed by a Voluntary Exchange of Populations Agreement – where Turkish Cypriots moved to the North and Greek Cypriots moved to the South. There have been negotiations held under the federal basis for more than half-a-century, which have all been tried, failed and exhausted.”
Underlining that he was voted under his new two States vision that is based on the cooperative relationship of the two Sides, President Tatar added: “I first put forward my new vision to the international community at the informal meeting on Cyprus in Geneva in April 2021, where I stated that a settlement can be found on our inherent rights, namely sovereign equality and equal international status. We want a realistic, sustainable and practical settlement to the Cyprus issue.”
President Tatar explained that an exploration exercise had been carried out by Maria Holguin as Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, adding: “Ms. Holguin determined that no common ground exists to start new and formal negotiations. Following my participation in another informal meeting that was held in March in Geneva, we agreed on six new cooperation initiatives. However, soon after returning to the Island, the Greek Cypriot leader has initiatives a relentless campaign of intimidating and terrorising my people in relation to immovable property. This has caused outrage among my people and is unacceptable. It goes against the fresh new efforts of the Secretary-General – who described the outcome of the informal meeting as being a new atmosphere and meaningful progress – to make progress and to build trust between the two sides.”
Underlining that the Island of Cyprus has significant geopolitical and geostrategic importance, located in the eastern Mediterranean just 40 miles from the southern coast of Türkiye, President Tatar added: “The UK has two Sovereign Base Areas on the Island. The importance of these bases are even more evident due to the developments and conflict in the Middle East.”
President Tatar said he had called upon the UK Government during his meeting with Minister Doughty to review the UK’s “lack of equal treatment policy” of the Turkish Cypriot People.
“I explained that, despite the promises to end the inhumane isolation of the Turkish Cypriot People by the international community that was made during the period of the Annan Plan in 2004, non of the promises to start direct flights, direct trade and direct contacts have been honoured”.
“This is an issue of basic human rights of my people,” the President said.
President Tatar added that the TRNC was accepted as an observer to the Organisation of Turkic States and was continuing to develop relations with Turkic States and countries of the Islamic world.
“The UK has an estimated 350,000 Turkish Cypriots living here who have strong bonds with their homeland – they have families and loved ones there … everybody wants to see tangible action on ending our isolation. Even our youth and sports clubs cannot play an international friendly in sports. This should have no place in this day and age. This should not be subjected to a political settlement, which has to date been rejected on many occasions by the Greek Cypriot side,” President Tatar said.
President Tatar reminded that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has addressed the UN General Assembly, where he has for three consecutive years, invited the international community to put an end to the injustice facing the Turkish Cypriot People, to form economic, political and diplomatic relations, and to formally recognise the TRNC. “I wish to once again express my gratitude to President Erdoğan for his full support to our two States position and support to the Turkish Cypriot People on every international platform,” President Tatar said.
President Tatar thanked the Freedom and Fairness for Northern Cyprus campaign for organising the meeting and to the Parliamentarians who participated.
İmran Khan MP, in his concluding remarks at the meeting, underlined the importance of the “right to self-determination” of peoples and said it is important to continue to lobby decision makers and to enlighten them about the realities of the Island of Cyprus and the plight of the Turkish Cypriot People.
Lord Rogan stated that President Tatar was working tirelessly to promote the TRNC and the Turkish Cypriot cause, and is the first TRNC President to have previously participated in a session of the House of Lords.