“Rauf Raif Denktaş is one of the most important heroes of our success story”
 

President Ersin Tatar participated in a conference and the opening of a photographic exhibition commemorating the 101st anniversary of the birth of the TRNC Founding President Rauf Raif Denktaş.

The event, which was held at Social Sciences University of Ankara Northern Cyprus campus, was also attended by the Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye, Yasin Ekrem Serim, academics, civil society representatives and students.

Paying tribute to Mr. Denktaş, the TRNC Founding President who devoted his entire life to the Cyprus national cause, President Tatar said: “President Denktaş always wanted a two State settlement in Cyprus. It has taken time to reach the point we are at today following the exhaustion of federal-based negotiations, our new position for a two State settlement, and the changing conjuncture and the position of the Republic of Türkiye.”

“I have adopted the two State position of Rauf Denktaş as a guide,” President Tatar said. “I am putting forward a position in light of the famous words of our Founding President, where he said  that State and sovereignty cannot be surrendered, and that if this were the case, any agreement to be made will be as though it has been written on ice.”

Stating that following the rebellion of the Turkish Cypriot people against the British Colonial Administration in 1958 and the martyrs who sacrificed their lives in this resistance, President Tatar said: “The Turkish Cypriots proclaimed to the world that there were two separate peoples and structures in Cyprus. Our People later became one of the equal co-founders of the partnership Republic of Cyprus established in 1960.”

Pointing out that Türkiye is one of the guarantor powers of the 1960 partnership state, President Tatar said: “Türkiye is one of the guarantor powers with rights to unilaterally intervene, which is a right that is enshrined in the articles of the Treaty of Guarantee. Despite the existence of this right, the Greek Cypriot side staged island-wide attacks against our people as part of acts of genocide to unite the Island of Cyprus with Greece (ENOSIS).”

President Tatar stated that just three years after its establishment, the partnership Republic of Cyprus was destroyed in December 1963 by Greek Cypriots, who expelled the Turkish Cypriots from the state apparatus of the republic by force of arms.  “The Turkish Cypriots were forced to defend themselves in a position where there was a single state and single identity,” President Tatar said.

President Tatar stated that after the speech made by Rauf Raif Denktaş in 1948, there was an expectation that he would be the leader of the Turkish Cypriots after Dr. Fazıl Küçük, and noted that “Mr. Denktaş was a man of cause from that period onwards”.

President Tatar drew attention to the importance of Denktaş’s intelligence, diligence, his support for the national cause of Cyprus as a lawyer, his ability to boost the morale of the Turkish Cypriot fighters who sought to defend Erenköy, and he risked his own life to come from Türkiye to Cyprus by boat only to be captured by Greek Cypriots.

“President Denktaş devoted his entire life to the national struggle of the Turkish Cypriot People,” President Tatar added. “He played a pivotal role in the development of the position that is based on sovereignty and the State at the negotiations table. Mr. Denktaş elevated the status of the Turkish Cypriots from being a community to being a People.”

President Tatar stated that the “establishment of an independent Turkish State in the eastern Mediterranean and the absence of bloodshed in Cyprus for 50 years are success stories” and noted that “Rauf Raif Denktaş was one of the most important heroes of the success story”.

Stating that Denktaş fought to declare to the world that the Turkish Cypriots have the right to self-determination as a separate people in Cyprus, President Tatar emphasised that “Mr. Denktaş did not allow the Turkish Cypriots to be exterminated nor to become a minority of the Greek Cypriots in the Republic of Cyprus they had co-founded on the basis of equality”.

“President Denktaş has stated on many occasions, during his time in office as President and in the period thereafter, that the unilateral admission of the Greek Cypriot side to the EU of which Türkiye is not a member, is contrary to the founding treaties of the Republic of Cyprus.

Referring to the criticism levelled against Mr. Denktaş by the opposition at the time, he added: “President Denktaş was labelled, wrongfully, as being ‘Mr. No’ for many years by his opposition, who themselves also came to office. Time has proven Mr. Denktaş right with regards to who has blocked a settlement in Cyprus,” President Tatar said.

Stressing that the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus should be a party to a settlement of the Cyprus issue,” President Tatar stated that “the second President, Mehmet Ali Talat, has had difficulty understanding the expression of the situation”.

President Tatar stated that with a federal solution and the EU principles, single sovereignty and single citizenship, the Greek Cypriots would overrun the North, that would over time place the Turkish Cypriot national identity in danger. “Even the UK opted to depart from the EU in order to protect their national identity,” President Tatar said.

Stating that the two State settlement position he put forward is being supported by the Republic of Türkiye, President Tatar said that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called upon the international community to formally recognise the TRNC and to end the inhumane isolation, during his addresses at the UN General Assembly.

President Tatar, who stated that “new and formal negotiations can begin following the reaffirmation of our sovereign equality and equal international status,” added: “Our two State position will provide a realistic and sustainable basis for a settlement and will be of benefit to all sides.”

President Tatar paid tribute to Rauf Raif Denktaş and expressed his gratitude to him.

“I wish God’s Mercy upon him. May he rest in eternal peace,” President Tatar said.