President Ersin Tatar paid a visit to the Association of the Turkish Resistance Organisation (TMT).
Speaking during the visit President Tatar said that without the inherent rights of the Turkish Cypriot people being accepted, they will not return to the negotiating table.
President Ersin Tatar visited the TMT Association and spoke with members of the association and staff.
During the visit the President said that he wanted to come together with representatives of the association prior to the 59th anniversary of the August 8 Erenköy Resistance and commemorate the Erenköy fighters, commanders, veterans and leaders of the period, and wish mercy to the martyrs and those who lost their lives.
Pointing out that the Erenköy Resistance was a Çanakkale Struggle, Tatar said, “An epic was written in Erenköy with the support of nearly 600 students, including women, in 6 regions. This resistance led to the establishment of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus 10 years after the Cyprus Peace Operation.”
Explaining that the importance and status of the TRNC in the airspace and maritime area in the Eastern Mediterranean has increased more in the recent period, given its geostrategic position and politics, Tatar emphasized that for this reason, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan fully supports the two-state solution in Cyprus and that it has taken its place as a national policy of Türkiye.
Noting that for years the Turkish Cypriot side has always participated in negotiations for a solution on the basis of a federation, Tatar said however the Greek Cypriot side has never been willing to come to an agreement.
Pointing out that a dangerous path has been taken with the unilateral admission of South Cyprus to the European Union, Tatar said that the Greek Cypriot side’s aim is to rid the island of Turkish troops and to sever our ties with Anatolia and to patch up the Turkish Cypriot people to the Republic of Cyprus, which has turned into the Greek Cypriot Republic.
“Their policy is to exclude Türkiye from the Eastern Mediterranean. Once the blue homeland is jeopardized, we will be eroded within the European Union” said Tatar.
“We will not sit at the negotiating table until our sovereign equality and equal status, which are our inherent rights in the Cyprus founding treaties, are confirmed,” said Tatar and added that it is their policy for the survival of the Turkish Cypriot state as a Turkish state in the Eastern Mediterranean and that this policy is supported.
Explaining that the European Union has extended its borders to Cyprus in order to benefit from these riches in terms of geopolitical presence, power and especially natural resources, President Tatar said, “As Turkish Cypriots, we have been living here for 450 years. We are as sovereign as the Greek Cypriots. Our state is as sovereign as their state”.
He reiterated that there are two separate peoples and democracies in Cyprus, and therefore the best solution for the island is a two-state solution.
He also called for the unjust embargoes imposed against the Turkish Cypriot people to be eased and added that the direct flights to be carried out by friendly countries and investments to be made by entrepreneurs will improve the economy of the country.