President Ersin Tatar participates in the Remembrance Ceremony of the late Dr. Fazıl Küçük, who led the Turkish Cypriot People in their struggle for freedom
Ceremony held to mark the 41st anniversary of the passing of the Turkish Cypriot Leader, Dr. Fazıl Küçük, who led the Turkish Cypriot People in their struggle for freedom and peaceful coexistence as a sovereign people.
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President Ersin Tatar paid tribute to Dr. Fazıl Küçük, the Turkish Cypriot Leader, whom he said is an “iconic symbol of the Turkish Cypriot struggle for freedom and peaceful coexistence as a sovereign people” in the face of the aspiration of the Greek Cypriot Side to unite Cyprus with Greece.
The ceremony was held in Anıttepe, at the mausoleum of Dr. Fazıl Küçük, in Lefkoşa, and was attended by other government and military officials, civil society representatives, students and members of the public.
In his speech at the ceremony, President Tatar said: “We are here today to pay tribute to and commemorate Dr. Fazıl Küçük with respect, on the 41st anniversary of his passing, who has made his mark in history, who led the Turkish Cypriot People in their struggle for freedom and peaceful coexistence as a sovereign people in the face of the aspiration of the Greek Cypriot side to unite Cyprus with Greece.”
President Tatar stated that during the British colonial rule, when the Turkish Cypriot People were faced with “great despair” and “extermination” after the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, Dr. Küçük “offered our people hope through his courageous and strong leadership”.
Noting that Dr. Küçük was “always amongst the people as a doctor”, President Tatar added: “He placed great importance on raising awareness in Türkiye with regards to the situation on the Island, and would visit our Motherland to raise awareness about the developments and to explain the importance of Cyprus. He took our Founding President Rauf Raif Denktaş into his delegation."
President Tatar said: “With the support of the late Prime Minister of Türkiye, Adnan Menderes and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fatin Rüştü Zorlu to the Cyprus issue, a new phase had been resumed with the 1960 treaties of establishment, of which the Turkish Cypriot Side was a co-founding partner, that included the guarantee and unilateral intervention rights of three guarantor powers, including Türkiye.”
Stating that “the Turkish Cypriot People were led by Dr. Küçük, who secured the intervention rights of Türkiye as a Guarantor power that is enshrined in the 1960 treaties”, President Tatar added: “Dr. Fazıl Küçük signed the 1960 treaties on behalf of the Turkish Cypriot People that established the partnership Republic of Cyprus, which had opened a new page for the Island of Cyprus. However, even after the signing of the treaties the then president of the republic, Archbishop Makarios, was making statements that this was just a springboard for the unification of Cyprus with Greece (Enosis).
President Tatar said: “Dr. Fazıl Küçük was amongst the Turkish Cypriot people when 103 of our villages were being attacked and burned down as part of the Greek Cypriot extermination plans, when island-wide attacks on our people were initiated on Bloody Christmas in December 1963. Our population were outgunned and outnumbered and forced to live in difficult conditions as refugees in various parts of Lefkoşa. It was important for Dr. Küçük and his wife to lead at the time."
Stressing that the Turkish Cypriot people overcame that period with unity and solidarity under the leadership of Dr. Küçük, President Tatar said that they saw the beginning of a new era in Cyprus with the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation and the eventual establishment of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
President Tatar stated that Dr. Fazıl Küçük watched in tears the extra ordinary session of the Parliamentary Assembly on November 15, 1983, despite being unwell, and witnessed first-hand the unanimous vote by deputies, for the declaration of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
President Tatar referred to the words of Dr. Küçük on that historic day, when he “rejoiced” at the proclamation of the TRNC, where he famously said that he “will not die in vain”. The President stated that Dr. Küçük had passed away on January 15, 1984.
“May he rest in eternal peace. He will always be in a special place in the hearts of the Turkish Cypriot People,” President Tatar said.