President Erdoğan: No one can any longer make the Turkish side pay for the deadlock in Cyprus
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed via videoconference from Istanbul the TRNC Irrigation Conveyance Tunnel Light Appearance Ceremony.
Stressing that the injustice and hypocrisy the Turkish Cypriots face, President Erdoğan said: “The Turkish Cypriots have become the prime victims of the deadlock during the negotiations going on for half a century. Those who have acknowledged the Turkish Cypriots rights behind closed doors have always played ostrich unfortunately when it comes to taking action. They have sought to doom our Cypriot brothers and sisters to a ‘minority’ status in their own homeland instead of finding an equitable solution that respects everyone’s rights. The Cyprus issue has become a gangrene because of the mentality that doesn’t consider the Turkish community to be equal but rather disregards it. The Cyprus negotiations have remained inconclusive due to the Greek Cypriot side’s caprices and intransigent attitude detached from the realities on the island. Those who massacred the Turkish Cypriot people in 1963-1974 left the table with unreasonable excuses when a solution was near. While the Greek Cypriots, who rejected the Annan Plan, were rewarded with the EU membership, the Turkish Cypriots, who said ‘yes’ to the very same plan, were punished. It is already not possible to forge a shared future with a mentality that refuses to share with the Turkish Cypriots even hospitals let alone political power and prosperity.”
Describing the informal 5+1 talks on Cyprus held in Geneva in April as a turning point in terms of the Turkish Cypriots’ struggle, President Erdoğan said: “During this meeting which was convened upon our proposal, the Turkish Cypriots put forward fresh, reasonable and equitable proposals. They stated that the existence of two separate states and peoples on the island with distinct cultures, languages, religions and traditions must be established instead of wasting time with modalities whose shelf lives have already run out.”
“SOLUTION IN CYPRUS MUST BE BUILT UPON THE REALITIES ON THE GROUND”
Emphasizing Turkey’s full support for the proposals put forward in Geneva by the Turkish Cypriot side under TRNC President Erin Tatar’s leadership, President Erdoğan said: “I hereby would like to congratulate in your presence President Tatar for the leadership and the firm stance he displayed in Geneva. No one can any longer make the Turkish Cypriot side pay for the deadlock in Cyprus. With the step they have taken regarding Maraş, the Turkish Cypriot people have shown they would no longer tolerate the unlawfulness on the island. If a solution is to be found in Cyprus, this must be built upon the realities on the ground not upon pipe dreams.”
If there are to be new negotiations on Cyprus, these should no longer be between the two communities, but between the two states, the President underlined. “In what ways the two states can cooperate should be determined in these negotiations. To this end, the Turkish Cypriots’ sovereign equality and equal status must be confirmed first of all and only after this must the negotiations start. Rejecting the two-state solution means rejecting the Turkish Cypriot people’s sovereignty, equality, independence and state. Neither we nor the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus can consent to such an injustice and usurpation of rights.”
Further stressing that Turkey will never allow the Turkish Cypriots’ rights over the energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean to be usurped, President Erdoğan added that Turkey will continue to stand by the Turkish Cypriot people in order for peace, security, stability and prosperity to prevail in the Eastern Mediterranean.
