President Ersin Tatar on Thursday attended a panel discussion in the Turkish city of Bolu titled “Rauf Raif Denktaş in the Turkish Cypriot Peoples’ National Struggle.”

President Ersin Tatar spoke at a panel in the Turkish Blacksea city of Bolu on the Turkish Cypriot people’s struggle for existence led by the late founding TRNC president Rauf Raif Denktaş

The President’s Special Representative Ergün Olgun and the late Denktaş’s son Serdar Denktaş also spoke at the panel organised at the Necip Fazıl Kısakürek Cultural Centre.

Addressing the participants, President Ersin Tatar said that Rauf Raif Denktaş, as a lawyer, had taken over the flag from Dr. Fazıl Küçük, defending the rights and interests of the Turkish Cypriot people.                                                                                …

Criticizing discourses coming from the opposition that ‘Cyprus belongs to Cypriots,’ Tatar said, ‘we can of course govern ourselves, but how can you survive against this crusader mentality if there is no Türkiye behind us? That’s why sovereign equality and two states are extremely important,” said Tatar.

Stating that he along with the nationalist camp had objected to the Annan Plan in 2004, he explained the importance of their new two state policy.

Also reacting to claims that the system of guarantees was outdated, Tatar emphasized that it is not possible for the Turkish Cypriot people to maintain their existence, identity and culture once the Turkish armed forces withdrew from the island and the system of guarantees was ended.

Noting that the Turkish Cypriots are an inseparable part of the great Turkish nation, President Tatar emphasized that if there is to be an agreement in Cyprus in the future, it needs to be on the basis of sovereign equality, with the cooperation of two sovereign independent states, a policy which he added Türkiye fully supported.

Tatar said that the struggle waged by the late Denktaş formed the main parameters of the struggle waged by the Turkish Cypriot people today

“Sovereignty and the state are indispensable for us,” said Tatar adding that it was their duty to shape the new policies by keeping in mind what Denktaş has predicted in the past.

Meanwhile President Ersin Tatar later in the day also attended an unveiling ceremony of a statue of the founding President Rauf Raif Denktaş in Bolu.

In his speech at the ceremony, Tatar pointed out that Denktaş had devoted his entire life to the Cyprus cause, providing great services to the Turkish Cypriot people, always looking to Anatolia and Türkiye for guidance and support.

Noting that Denktaş always talked about sovereignty while founding the state, Tatar said that if the Turkish Cypriot people did not have a state and a republic, they would not be able to continue their existence today.

Explaining that he always evaluated the Cyprus issue in harmony and consultation with Türkiye, Tatar noted that it is an important milestone for the TRNC to become an observer member of the Organization of Turkic States with the support of Türkiye.

“We will never stray from our path,” Tatar concluded.