President Ersin Tatar evaluates the address of the Greek Cypriot Leader Nikos Christodoulides at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly
President Ersin Tatar has evaluated on BRT State television the address of Greek Cypriot Leader Nikos Christodoulides at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.
President Tatar said the Greek Cypriot Leader's remarks that the Cyprus issue began in 1974 is “utterly incorrect which ignores the historical developments and atrocities committed against the Turkish Cypriot People”.
President Tatar stated that the Cyprus issue had in fact started in the 1950s, with the agitation of the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo to unite the island with Greece (ENOSIS). He said the partnership Republic of Cyprus was established between two inherently equal Peoples in Cyprus – the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots -- who were signatories to the treaties that established the republic, with the three guarantor powers – Türkiye, Greece and the UK.
President Tatar said: “The Greek Cypriot Side expulsed the Turkish Cypriot People from the state apparatus of the republic by force of arms in 1963, just three years following its establishment, whilst commencing island-wide attacks against our people by the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo and the EOKA terrorist organisation. The Turkish Cypriots were forced to abandon 103 villages and live in small enclaves, many in tents, in dire conditions in less than three per cent of the island’s territory. There were atrocities committed against the Turkish Cypriot people for 11 years who were forced to migrate. On July 15, 1974, the Greek Junta staged a coup d’état, where the ‘Hellenic Republic of Cyprus’ was declared. As a guarantor power, the Republic of Türkiye, obliged to act according to the respective treaties, staged the Cyprus Peace Operation, which put a stop to the bloodshed and atrocities. Despite the fact that these are on record, Mr. Christodoulides has completely brushed all these under the carpet and claimed that everything started in 1974 with the Peace Operation of Türkiye which compels me once again to question the sincerity of Mr. Christodoulides.”
Stating that the Turkish Cypriot Side has for many decades put forward arduous efforts to reach an equality-based power sharing settlement under a federal structure, President Tatar said: “The Greek Cypriot Side, which carries the mentality that Cyprus is a Hellenic island, has unfortunately wrongly been recognised and accepted as the sole Government of the whole island, which is the main reason why they have rejected at least 15 plans and ideas for more than half-a-century – the last being the UN Comprehensive Settlement [Annan] Plan in 2004, and again in Crans Montana in 2017. We are now saying that negotiations on the federal basis have been exhausted. It is time to talk about the realities on the island and the sovereign equality and equal international status of the two existing States.”
Recalling that the Greek Cypriot Side was accepted as an EU member state in the name of the whole island one week after rejecting the Annan Plan in 2004 in violation of EU treaty law and the relevant articles of the 1960 Republic of Cyprus – President Tatar said: “The Greek Cypriot Side have only sought to maximise their intransigent demands using this membership, such as ‘zero troops – zero guarantees’ – and wanting demolishment of the Guarantee of Türkiye, which was the case in Crans Montana in 2017.” He said the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo are demonstrating clearly that they want Türkiye to be excluded from the eastern Mediterranean, and for the island of Cyprus to come under Greek domination. “This is the game being played,” President Tatar said adding "this is not acceptable".
President Tatar stated that President of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in his address at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, had stated correctly that it was 60 years since the the Cyprus issue had started but the Greek Cypriot leader in his speech had claimed that the Cyprus issue had started 49 years ago which is incorrect.
“And now the Greek Cypriot leader is talking about some measures aimed at giving certain rights to Turkish Cypriot individuals, with the objective of integrating our People into the illegitimate Hellenic Republic in South Cyprus, as his proposed solution,” President Tatar said.
Emphasising that there are two inherently equal Peoples in Cyprus – the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, President Tatar stressed that neither side can rule over the other, as necessitated by the principle of equality.
“However, the Greek Cypriot leader is being allowed to address the UN General Assembly in the name of the whole island, in complete disregard to what has been happening in Cyprus since 1963, because of Resolution 186 that was passed by the Security Council in 1964 which has since enabled the Greek Cypriots to be treated wrongly as the sole government of the whole island. This situation is utterly unjust and needs to be put right,” President Tatar said, adding:
“In such a platform, the voice of the Turkish Cypriot People and the injustices my People are facing is silenced. However, President Erdoğan has been our voice at the UN General Assembly. I wish to thank him for conveying the injustices faced by the Turkish Cypriot People, and for his fresh call to the international community to recognise the TRNC and to form diplomatic, political and economic relations with our country.”
Pointing out that “The issue we face today is that a settlement in Cyprus cannot be found when one side is recognised as a republic, and the other side a community,” President Tatar added: “This lack of equilibrium, lack of an equal playing field needs to be addressed. Both sides need to be treated equally, otherwise the Greek Cypriot Side simply have no incentive to reach a settlement, which has been demonstrated time and time again. A realistic and sustainable settlement is not going to be reached by ignoring the inherent rights of the Turkish Cypriot People.”
President Tatar stressed that the struggle of the Turkish Cypriot People is an “honourable one, and we will defend our independence and our State”.
“They want to erode the existence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and to drag Turkish Cypriots into the Greek-Cypriot dominated state as individuals, as part of their own national objectives and aspirations. This is a completely unacceptable and ugly policy,” he added. “This seriously casts doubt with regards to the sincerity of Mr. Christodoulides,” he added. President Tatar said that the Greek Cypriot Side has tried to prevent the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot People through isolation and embargoes, whilst Motherland Türkiye has for many decades supported the TRNC and the development of different sectors in the country.
President Tatar reiterated his thanks to President Erdoğan for his address at the UN General Assembly.