President Ersin Tatar on Thursday welcomed the creation of parliamentary friendship groups with the Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Uzbek, Kazakh and Azeri parliaments.

Speaking to the TAK news agency on Thursday, President Ersin Tatar said that it was pleasing to see the creation of special parliamentary groups to establish and develop contacts with the parliaments of Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

He said the step taken by the Legislative Assembly of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in that direction was meaningful, timely and important.

“No doubt these parliamentary friendship groups will contribute to further developing relations with these Turkic countries. I would like to congratulate the Speaker of Parliament Mr Zorlu Töre and our MPs,” Tatar said.

Expressing his belief that the move will help efforts aimed at ending the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot people and removing the embargoes imposed on the TRNC, the president said that the TRNC-Türkiye Parliamentary Friendship Group was a standing example of how useful such collaborative groups could be.