Hakan Burak Altunoz
19 January 2024•Update: 19 January 2024
TRABZON, Türkiye
The president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Friday reiterated his stance for a two-state solution on the island of Cyprus based on sovereign equality and equal international status between its two states.
"The TRNC is an independent Turkish state in the Eastern Mediterranean. The support we get from Türkiye in this struggle is very valuable and important," Ersin Tatar said on a visit to Türkiye's northern Trabzon province.
"The calls made by distinguished (Turkish) President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the international community to promote the TRNC on every occasion are very valuable," he added.
About Israel's ongoing deadly attacks on Gaza, he said: "We are closely monitoring this with concern. Like all of Türkiye, the Turkish Cypriot people are deeply saddened that such a massacre is continuing in a region not far from us."
There can be no justification for being indifferent to the killing of tens of thousands of children, he said, referring to the death toll since Oct. 7 of 25,000 people in Gaza, most of them women and children.
"So the UN Security Council's indecisive stance on this matter has once again allowed the entire world to experience this tragedy from a humanitarian perspective," he added.
"The recent incidents in Palestine and Gaza have deeply saddened us, but this is once again a lesson. Because, to avoid similar incidents on Cyprus, I reiterate the importance of Türkiye's status as guarantor and the presence of Turkish troops. If there is to be an agreement on Cyprus, it must be based on a foundation of two states," he added.
Cyprus issue
Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.
In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation of the island led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.
It has seen an on-and-off peace process, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the UK.
The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.
Türkiye fully supports a two-state solution on the island of Cyprus based on sovereign equality and equal international status.
