President Ersin Tatar said on Thursday that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) deserved to be a separate state.
He added that the Greek Cypriot side’s main concern was removing the sovereignty of the Turkish Cypriot people.
Tatar also said that any settlement to be reached in Cyprus needed to be based on two sovereign and independent states cooperating with each other.
“Sovereignty is indispensable for the honourable existence of the Turkish Cypriot people,” the president said while addressing army recruits at the Gülseren training camp.
Speaking during a visit to the Gülseren training camp in Gazimağusa on Thursday where he addressed young Turkish Cypriot soldiers doing their military service, President Ersin Tatar emphasized the importance of sovereignty for the Turkish Cypriot people.
He also pointed out that the island of Cyprus was strategically located in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“The Ottomans gave 80,000 martyrs to conquer this island. They then allowed the island’s Greek Cypriot inhabitants to freely exercise their religion. Shortly afterwards, the uprising in Greece against the Ottomans spread to Cyprus as well. They too launched a struggle against the Ottomans who had saved them from the oppression of the Venetians,” Tatar said.
The president added that the island’s Greek Cypriot population began to harbour aspirations for union with Greece once Athens gained independence from the Ottoman Empire.
“20 per cent of the island belonged to the Evkaf or pious foundations. Turks owned around 50 per cent of the island,” he told the recruits.
Tatar pointed out that Türkiye was located just 40 miles away from Cyprus and that it had never abandoned Turkish Cypriots to their fate.
He explained how the Greek Cypriots hijacked the 1960 Republic of Cyprus forcing Turkish Cypriots out of the state mechanism through the force-of-arms.
“We deserve the status of being a separate state. The 1974 Turkish Peace Operation has brought peace and tranquillity to both the north and the south,” Tatar said.
Explaining the Turkish Cypriot side’s new two-state policy, Tatar said that there was no going back from the new national policy.
“Sovereignty is an indispensible component for the existence of the Turkish Cypriot people,” he said, reminding how the Greek Cypriots had been rewarded with EU membership despite rejecting the 2004 Annan Plan.
Tatar also argued that the Turkish Cypriot side’s two-state policy was slowly receiving support and acceptance from the international community.
“The TRNC will continue to grow and develop. We have reached where we are from the brink of annihilation. It is out of the question for us to give up our sovereignty from this point onwards. We desire the continuation of peace on this island. We can reach an agreement and cooperate in areas such as electricity, water and natural gas. All these issues will contribute to the island’s economy and the environment. With this, the importance of the TRNC will grow,” he said.