Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu on Thursday received a group of children of the martyrs in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region who are in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as part of a summer school programme. who are in the TRNC as part of a summer school programme upon an invitation from Girne American University.

The group is made up of young Azeris aged between 17-22 are being accompanied by Sevinç Oruçeva, President of the Azerbaijan Zafer Martyrs’ Families Association

Speaking during the visit, Ertuğruloğlu reminded that the TRNC is an observer member of the Organization of Turkic States and emphasized that the Turkic World is a very big family.

“This family had to stay separated from each other for many years. But now, we can reintegrate step by step” said Ertuğruloğlu.

Informing the students about Cyprus, Ertuğruloğlu explained that the Cyprus issue is a status issue; this means the Greek Cypriots were given the right to use a status that they do not have and treat the Turkish Cypriots as a community.

Referring to the fact that the Turkish Cypriot people experienced brutality between 1963 and 1974, he explained that the UN Peace Force was not an intervention force, it only prepared reports, and that the Turkish Cypriot people regained their freedom with the July 20, 1974, Peace Operation.

Talking about the epic resistance of the Turkish Cypriots, Ertuğruloğlu said, “Our biggest chance is that Motherland Türkiye is with us. It will be with us forever. There is no question of stepping back from our just cause.”

Sevinç Oruçeva, President of the Azerbaijan Victory Martyrs’ Families Association, stated that they participated in the 50th-anniversary events of the July 20 Peace Operation within the framework of their summer school activities and added that they too as Azerbaijanis also experienced similar atrocities to the Turkish Cypriots.