Statement of President Ersin Tatar
President Ersin Tatar has issued a written statement in reaction to the UN Security Council Press Statement dated August 21, 2023, which he said has taken the side of the Greek Cypriot Administration and ignored the justified humanitarian-based needs and demands of the Turkish Cypriot People.
Describing the UN Security Council Press Statement as “unfortunate and unacceptable,” President Tatar has stated that instead of taking a balanced and impartial approach that also considers the just needs and demands of the Turkish Cypriot People and the development of a road purely for humanitarian reasons, the UN Security Council has once again preferred to take an entirely pro-Greek Cypriot stance and continue the one-sidedness they have been doing continuously for so many years.
Stating that the international body has once again proven that it is part of the problem and not contributing towards a settlement on the Cyprus issue, the President emphasised that there will not be a compromise on the inherent rights of the Turkish Cypriot Side, namely on sovereign equality and equal international status and the preservation of the policy in support of peace.
The statement of President Ersin Tatar reads as follows:
“The Turkish Cypriot People of the village of Pile have always had a road problem which has been an ongoing issue for many years and our citizens have been asking for the TRNC to address their humanitarian issue. The general public and our political parties are supportive for this issue to be resolved with the development of the road between Yiğitler and Pile. Negotiations relating to this problem have been ongoing for more than 25 years and recently, it became apparent again that despite all our well-intentioned approaches, talks with the UN was again inconclusive and that the UN was not putting forward a constructive approach to this very important humanitarian issue.
It was in these circumstances that we made a decision to commence the development work of the existing Yiğitler-Pile road in our sovereign territory whilst continuing to be engaged on the matter with UN officials and we commenced road works on August 18, 2023. However, to our dismay, we found trespassing UN Peacekeeping forces in our territories, who were attempting to obstruct our road works by employing various methods to prevent us from implementing our own decision with regards to the development of the said road within the borders of our own country.
Despite all our warnings, the UN Peacekeeping forces refused to vacate the area and our territory and went further by resorting to the use of physical force in order to stop our people from performing their duties. As a result, eight TRNC police officers suffered minor injuries.
It is very unfortunate that despite these events, the UN Security Council has issued a biased press statement ignoring the facts on the ground, preferring to completely turn a blind eye to the realities surrounding the issue, the events of the day and the essential need for the construction of the road for humanitarian reasons as demanded by the Turkish Cypriot People for decades. The press statement of the UN Security Council has cast doubt on what interests are being served by this international organisation.
The United Nations Security Council which has for decades been pandering to the clamour of the Greek Cypriot Side rather than acting in a balanced and impartial manner, ignoring the just demands of the Turkish Cypriot People as a whole even on the development of a road which is a humanitarian issue, has once again proved that the UN is one of the main reasons why a settlement to the Cyprus issue has not been reached to date.
It is this wrong and biased mentality of the UN Security Council which ignored the expulsion of the Turkish Cypriot co-owners of the island in 1963 by the Greek Cypriot Side by force of arms, three years after the establishment of the equality-based partnership Republic, because of the aspiration of the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo to unite Cyprus to Greece. At the time, the UN Security Council had again turned a blind eye to what was happening in Cyprus and passed Resolution 186 which has treated the Greek Cypriot Side as the sole government of the whole island since March 4, 1964.
I wish to underline clearly and unequivocally that the unfortunate UN Security Council press statement is unacceptable to us.
The international body has preferred to continue its pro-Greek Cypriot stance and is continuing the great wrong it started many years ago, rather than putting things right and taking a balanced and impartial approach.
Whilst we continue to maintain our sincere policy for peace, we will never compromise on the inherent rights of the Turkish Cypriot Side, namely our sovereign equality and equal international status.
Our priority is for the protection of the rights and interests of our nation, and it is with this understanding that we are working to fulfil this humanitarian demand of developing the road for our people.
I wish to express my gratitude to Motherland Türkiye, which has always stood in solidarity and support to the TRNC under all conditions, which is of great importance. On behalf of our People, I also wish to thank President of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, all State and Government officials and the leaders and administrators of our political parties, in their messages of support to us for the construction of the Yiğitler-Pile road.”