President Tatar received the British Under-Secretary of State for Europe Leo Docherty and his accompanying delegation on Wednesday.

Speaking to the TAK News Agency after the meeting, President Tatar said that during the meeting he explained to the British Minister the injustices and unequal treatment of Turkish Cypriots and asked for his support.

Tatar reminded the British Minister that Britain was the sovereign power in Cyprus from 1923 to 1960 in line with the Treaty of Lausanne and had acquired two sovereign bases with the 1960 agreements, but that the Turkish Cypriots were still fighting for their right to sovereignty.

The president also noted that he told Docherty that there could be no greater injustice than this, and that the Turkish Cypriots were equal and sovereign on the island, as stated in the founding agreements of the 1960 partnership Republic.

Tatar also reminded that Britain had failed to fulfil its obligations as a guarantor power, leaving Türkiye no choice but to exercise its own rights in 1974, carrying out a legitimate intervention that brought peace to the island.

He added that the presence of Turkish forces was not only important for the Turkish Cypriots but also for the peace of the entire region.

The president said that Turkish Cypriots had been subjected to more injustices in 2004.

Expressing the view that the UK as a country which left the European Union should facilitate direct flights to the TRNC and conduct direct trade with Turkish Cypriots, Tatar noted that he also said that the UK, should treat Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots equally if it sees itself as a country that believes in equality.

Noting that he also demanded the lifting of the sporting embargoes, President Tatar said that he had asked Turkish Cypriot teams to be included in a volleyball organization to be held in the UK in respect of the volleyball teams that perished in the February 6 earthquakes in Türkiye.

He said he had asked the British High Commissioner to Cyprus to follow up on this request.

Tatar said that he had also conveyed the Turkish Cypriot side’s disappointment of not being invited to the coronation ceremony of King Charles III.

He reminded that the Greek Cypriots did not represent the Turkish Cypriots, and that after the Turkish Cypriots were excluded from the state by the force of arms in 1963, an “out of necessity” state was established.

He said that it was a great injustice to ignore the Turkish Cypriot people.

“I told Docherty they were denying the existence of Turkish Cypriots. The Turkish Cypriots are a people, they have rights, they have law, they have poetry, they have literature and they have culture. How can you only address the Greek Cypriot side and not us?” Tatar said.