President Ersin Tatar receives Numan Kurtulmuş, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye and his delegation
"The survival of the Turkish Cypriots as sovereign People passes through the upgrading of the status of the TRNC and its existence in the region”
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President Ersin Tatar received the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, Numan Kurtulmuş and his parliamentary delegation on Tuesday, July 11.
Mr Kurtulmuş, paying his first visit abroad to the TRNC after taking office, in a show of support to the country, was accompanied by the Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to Lefkoşa, Metin Feyzioğlu.
Speaking at a joint press conference following their meeting held at the Presidency in Lefkoşa, President Tatar expressed his gratitude to Mr. Kurtulmuş for paying his first visit abroad to the TRNC together with his delegation in a show of support to and solidarity with the country, recalling that this was also done last month by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of the Republic of Türkiye.
Emphasising that Cyprus is a “national struggle,” President Tatar stated that the “Turkish Cypriot People have been and are maintaining their existence and survival with the support of Motherland Türkiye", adding that “the Turkish Cypriots have sacrificed a lot in order to reach the days of freedom and independence in their own State".
President Tatar stressed: “The Turkish Cypriot People, who endured years of genocide, persecution, imprisonment in enclaves and forced to emigrate from the island of Cyprus, put up an epic struggle to protect their inherent sovereign rights, whilst facing island-wide abductions, attacks and murders by the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo that aspired to unite Cyprus with Greece,” and added that Turkish Cypriot People, who were expulsed by force of arms from the state apparatus of the partnership Republic of Cyprus in 1963, just three years after it had been established, have been governing themselves as a State from that period to the present day.
“We offer our gratitude to Türkiye for the support and solidarity to the Turkish Cypriot People, the Turkish Resistance Organisation (TMT) and our People, who put forth a determined struggle to protect their sovereign rights, independence and freedom,” President Tatar said.
Reminding that today is also July 11 Turkish Cypriot Press Day, President Tatar noted that the first Turkish newspaper named “Saded”, published 132 years ago during British colonial rule, had become the voice of our ancestors in their political struggle in Cyprus with the support of Motherland Türkiye.
He explained that the Turkish Cypriot People had resisted the aspiration of ENOSIS waged by the Greek Cypriots with the support of Greece against the British colonial administration, and was one of the signatories to the international treaties for the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus which provided the Turkish Cypriots equality with the Greek Cypriot People in exercise of their inherent sovereign rights, in the hope of coexisting in peace. He said this republic also had three guarantor powers, namely Türkiye, Greece and Great Britain. Pointing out that the 1960 founding treaties enshrined unilateral intervention rights of the guarantor powers, President Tatar added:
“However, as Archbishop Makarios declared openly thereafter, independence was not the final aim of the Greek Cypriots whose sole intention was to use the Republic as a ‘springboard’ for ENOSIS and to rid the island from Britain, and true to his words, they destroyed the republic, expulsing Turkish Cypriots from the state apparatus in 1963 with force of arms, usurping the rights of the Turkish Cypriot People through the implementation of the Akritas Plan. In March 1964, the UN passed the unfortunate Resolution 186, which treated the Greek Cypriots as the sole Government of Cyprus. However, despite the UN peacekeeping force being in Cyprus as from 1964, island-wide abductions and attacks on the Turkish Cypriot People until 1974 ensued as part of the aspiration of the Greek Cypriots to unite Cyprus with Greece." President Tatar added that the ‘Hellenic Republic of Cyprus’ had been declared on July 15, 1974, following a coup d’état by the Greek junta and referred to the statement delivered by Makarios before the UN Security Council on July 19, 1974, when he declared that Greece had invaded Cyprus. President Tatar explained that whilst the UK declined a joint intervention, the Republic of Türkiye invoked the relevant articles of the treaty as a guarantor power and unilaterally intervened on July 20, 1974, in accordance with her obligations set forth by the treaty.
President Tatar continued: “The Turkish Cypriot People, who have been governing themselves effectively as a State since 1963, are today living under the roof of their own State, and we have for decades arduously worked for a settlement in Cyprus. However, the Greek Cypriot Side, who continue to be treated as the government of the whole of Cyprus, still have an obsession for a Hellenic island and have rejected at least 15 settlement plans and ideas, the most recent being the UN Comprehensive Settlement [Annan] Plan of 2004, and Crans-Montana in 2017.”
Calling on the international community to end the inhumane isolation on the Turkish Cypriot People, President Tatar said: “I repeat the call made by the President of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, during his historic address at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, on September 20, 2022, where he called for an end to the uncivilised isolation and restrictions that is tantamount to the persecution of the Turkish Cypriot People. President Erdoğan also called for the formal recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus."
The President added that following this call by President Erdoğan, the TRNC was admitted as an observer member with its constitutional name to the Organisation of Turkic States at the summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in November 2022.
“All of these positive developments are tangible results of the increasing acknowledgment of the TRNC – a Turkish State which is located in the eastern Mediterranean – an important geostrategic region, and the upgrading of its status,” President Tatar said.
Stating that 75 million m3 per annum of fresh water is being pumped via an 80km undersea pipeline from Anatolia to the TRNC under the ‘Project of the Century’, the President said that a “new phase has been entered” with the development of utilising this water in the agriculture sector as well as the transportation and service sectors.
Pointing to the importance of stability, President Tatar stated that he is putting forward a new policy for a settlement that is based on the sovereign equality and equal international status of the two Sides in Cyprus, which is fully supported by the Republic of Türkiye.
“There is no need to waste more time once again heading back to federal based negotiations, because this basis has been discussed in every detail numerous times over many decades and failed to produce any sort of outcome in the past. Negotiations under a federal basis have been exhausted. There is clearly need for a change. There is a need for our recognition,” President Tatar said.
"Sovereignty is an indispensable inherent right”
President Tatar, who stated that “sovereignty is an indispensable inherent right”, referred to the “importance and power of Motherland Türkiye” in the collective defence mechanism, which was once again evidenced at the NATO summit held yesterday.
The President said that the Republic of Türkiye “is on the verge of completing her first century,” adding that “I hope the second century of Motherland Türkiye will be one of blessing, prosperity and success, which will also be beneficial to the TRNC”.
President Tatar stated that the survival of the Turkish Cypriots as a sovereign People passes through the upgrading of the status of the TRNC and its existence in the region.
Kurtulmuş: “Continued existence of the TRNC as an independent and sovereign State is essential not only for Turkish Cypriot People but also for peace in the region”
Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, Numan Kurtulmuş, stated that he was paying his first official visit abroad to the TRNC adding that “as the Republic of Türkiye, we stand in full support and solidarity with the TRNC”.
He emphasised that the continuation of the existence, independence and sovereignty of the TRNC is an important issue not only for the Turkish Cypriot People but also for sustainable peace in the region.
Mr. Kurtulmuş, who expressed his gratitude to President Tatar for their meeting, stated that Türkiye and the TRNC are “inseparable”, which he said has been demonstrated throughout history to the present day.
Pointing out that it has been 49 years since the Cyprus Peace Operation was undertaken due to the attrocities and developments at the time, he stated that "the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of the Republic of Türkiye in the region runs in parallel to our sovereign rights in the region, and in line with the policy for the reaffirmation of the sovereignty rights of the TRNC,” Mr. Kurtulmuş said.
“A lasting peace in the region cannot be reached on an understanding that ignores the existence of the Turkish Cypriot People,” he said, adding that “any result from such an approach that disregards the existence of Turkish Cypriot People will also not be acceptable to Türkiye”.
Stating that the two Peoples – the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots have sovereign and equal rights in Cyprus, Mr. Kurtulmuş said that “it is important to preserve this basis in the negotiations”.
Explaining that the Turkish Cypriots and Türkiye have always been the side that have arduously worked for a settlement and adopted a positive approach, Mr. Kurtulmuş stated that the Greek Cypriot Side and Greece were acting as the spoilt side which has ensured that the Cyprus issue remains doomed to an impasse.
Mr Kurtulmuş said: “At this point, the way to a settlement in Cyprus is clear. In the North, the TRNC now exists as a national identity. It exists as an independent State. Today, there is a TRNC that is ready to be recognised internationally. In the process ahead, it is time for the TRNC to be recognised, or at least for the inherent rights and existence of the Turkish Cypriot People to be reaffirmed by the international community.”
Underlining that Türkiye “will continue to do everything necessary to protect the rights and interests of the independent TRNC to the end,” Mr Kurtulmuş concluded that “we will stand together with our Turkish Cypriot brothers and defend your rights under all circumstances”.