President Ersin Tatar has said that his meeting with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during Monday’s visit to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) had focused on political recognition and strengthening the TRNC’s economy.

“The policy we are advocating on the Cyprus issue is among the main topics on Türkiye’s agenda. The Republic of Türkiye has once again declared its full support to the TRNC,” said Tatar, adding that the national policy on Cyprus will continue.

He pointed out that both Türkiye and the TRNC will continue to defend the Blue Homeland doctrine.

Evaluating his meeting with the Turkish president to the TAK news agency, President Ersin Tatar said, “President Erdoğan said that he will be sending his Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz to the TRNC upon his return from Azerbaijan.”

He noted that comprehensive meetings will be held with Cevdet Yılmaz to find solutions to specific problems.

Tatar also said that the fact that Erdoğan had made his first visit abroad to the TRNC following his re-election demonstrated the importance the Turkish president gave to the TRNC.

Referring to Erdoğan’s statement during the joint press conference, “If a return to the negotiation table is to be achieved, it can only be through the recognition of the TRNC,” President Tatar said that it had been agreed that there was no turning back from this point.

“It was discussed that efforts will be made for recognition from the Organization of Turkic States and other friendly countries. It is important to strengthen the structure of the TRNC and to highlight the continued support of the Republic of Türkiye.”

Explaining that the mindset of the Greek Cypriot Administration, particularly after its accession to the European Union, was inclined towards a federal-based solution, the withdrawal of Turkish troops and the scrapping of Türkiye’s guarantees as well as Türkiye’s exclusion from the Eastern Mediterranean, Tatar said that this was unacceptable.

“The policy we advocate, in the context of the Cyprus issue, is also a main agenda item for the Republic of Türkiye which has once again declared its full support to the TRNC,” said Tatar, adding that the national policy on Cyprus will continue.

He pointed out that both Türkiye and the TRNC will continue to defend the Blue Homeland doctrine.

The TRNC president said that there were two dimensions to the current efforts; the first dimension was to maintain continuous contacts with foreign countries for recognition, to attract friendly states, and to increase the visibility of the TRNC and the second dimension was the TRNC’s economic structure.

“We experienced the pandemic and the well-known economic crisis. How can the TRNC protect itself against inflation? We discussed all of these issues. There are also some issues at the new airport that need to be overcome, such as bringing electricity through cables and the opening of Ercan Airport on July 20. There are also steps that need to be taken within the framework of the Economic and Financial Cooperation Protocol,” he said.

Regarding the issue of hydrocarbons, Tatar reminded that they had yet to receive an answer from the Greek Cypriot side concerning Ankara’s proposal made in July last year for a multilateral conference to discuss all aspects of the issue.

“We don’t believe there will be a response because the Greek Cypriot side does not recognize our sovereignty and existence,” the president said.

Tatar also mentioned that they discussed the issue of earthquakes during his meeting with Erdoğan and noted that he invited Kenan Akın, a former minister who lost his two grandchildren in the earthquake on February 6, to the Presidency and arranged a meeting with Erdoğan.